6.8 magnitude earthquake hits China's Sichuan province, say authorities

A Strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter Scale jolted the Sichuan province in China on Monday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The quake hit the Luding county in Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province at 12:52 pm Monday, as per CENC, quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

The epicentre of the earthquake was at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 16 km, the CENC said.

According to the centre, another quake with a magnitude of 4.2 struck the city of Yaan near Luding.

However, the casualties or damages are yet to be ascertained.

Sichuan province in China is prone to earthquakes due to its seismic activities.

On April 20, 2013, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake had hit Yaan city, which resulted in 196 fatalities.

Earlier, on May 12, 2008, a 7.9 earthquake occurred in the Sichuan province which resulted in over 69,000 fatalities and is one of the most destructive earthquakes in recent history.