Sichuan has activated the highest level of emergency response after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday killed at least 66 people and injured hundreds.

Fifteen people were reported missing and rescuers have been scouring through rubble to search for possible survivors.

Thirty-eight people were killed in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and 28 died in Ya'an City.

President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out rescue efforts and the State Council has sent a working team to oversee rescue and relief work.

But local weather services warned rain was set to inundate the area, threatening to complicate those efforts.

The earthquake, which jolted Luding county, also rocked buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu amid a Covid-19 lockdown there.

Authorities in Sichuan have reported a series of aftershocks. (Agencies)
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Last updated: 2022-09-06 HKT 17:28