Sichuan earthquake: 19 dead, 247 injured in 7.0-magnitude tremblor

Five among the dead were visitors to the popular tourist destination of Jiuzhaigou national park.

At least 19 people were killed and 247 injured in a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck a remote area in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday night, Xinhua news agency reported.

The massive earthquake struck at 9:19 pm (local time) and the epicentre was monitored at a depth of 20 km. Reports say that over 130,000 houses could have been damaged.

Five among the dead were visitors to the popular tourist destination of Jiuzhaigou national park.

So far, the Jiuzhaigou County has dispatched more than 90 emergency vehicles and 1,200 personnel to participate in the rescue work. The county also sent consultants to hotels, rural inns and streets to offer possible counselling service for tourists. The quake was felt in the provincial capital Chengdu, about 300 km south of the epicentre, and other regions in the neighbouring provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi, the Xinhua report said.

The news website of Sichuan provincial government reported a suspension of train services to Chengdu and other cities post earthquake. There were also reports of disruption in the telephone communications.

China's cabinet, the State Council, has sent a national work team to the disaster-hit area to guide relief work. Local governments have also activated top-level emergency response procedures.

Sichuan is a quake-prone region.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs