China: Earthquake of magnitude 6 strikes Sichuan province, emergency response launched

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Beijing: An earthquake of magnitude 6 jolted Luxian County of southwest China's Sichuan province on Thursday (September 16, 2021), according to China Earthquake Networks Centre (CENC).

The quake struck at 4:33 am (local time), the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The epicentre was monitored at 29.2 degrees north latitude and 105.34 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers, the report said.

The earthquake relief headquarters of Sichuan has activated a level-II response, the second highest in China's four-tier earthquake emergency response system.

After the quake, Luzhou City launched a level-I emergency response and sent personnel for disaster investigation and rescue.

Thousands of people were killed and many others injured when Sichuan province was struck by an earthquake of magnitude 8 in 2008.