At least 30 killed after strong earthquake hits China's Sichuan

Beijing [China], September 5 : At least 30 people were killed after an earthquake rocked the Luding County in China's Sichuan Province on Monday, according to state media.
Local authorities said seven people were killed in Luding County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and the other 14 were killed in Shimian County, Ya'an City, Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping requested for all-out relief efforts to prioritise saving lives and minimizing casualties after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Luding county, state media outlet Global Times reported.
China's Red Cross Society has initiated a Level-III emergency response, with the first batch of relief materials consisting of 320 tents, 2,200 relief packages, 1,200 quilts and 300 folding beds dispatched to the affected area.
The Red Cross has also sent a working group there to help with the relief and rescue work.
Sichuan province has activated the second-highest level of emergency response for the earthquake and more rescue forces are rushing to the epicentre area.
The earthquake jolted Luding County at 12:52 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).
The epicentre was monitored at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 16 km, the CENC said.
The epicentre is 39 km away from the county seat of Luding and there are several villages within the 5-km range around the epicentre. The tremor was felt in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which is 226 km away from the epicentre.