Sichuan

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 has shaken Southwest China. At least 13 people have died in Sichuan province, the BBC reported.

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern China on Monday, according to the US Geological Survey.

The quake hit around 43 kilometres (26 miles) southeast of the city of Kangding in Sichuan province at a depth of 10 kilometres, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

Tremors were felt in the nearby megacity of Chengdu, a resident told AFP.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated to safer areas by Monday as heavy rains brought flood risks to a region of southwest China that for most of the summer was devastated by a heatwave and drought.

Brush fires have forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 people in southwest China and power rationing for factories has reportedly been extended as weeks of record heat and drought batter the region.

China says it will try to protect its grain harvest from record-setting drought by using chemicals to generate rain, while factories in the southwest waited Sunday to see whether they would be shut down for another week due to shortages of water to generate hydropower.

The Chinese government has allocated part of the 2020 funding for poverty alleviation to local authorities, the Treasury said on Monday.

Asia's highest wooden Buddhist pagoda burned down completely in Sichuan province, Chinese newspaper Zhinmin Jibbao reports.

"The 16-storey wooden tower, known as the highest in Asia, burned down and was completely destroyed in a monastery in the northwestern part of Sichuan province," the paper writes.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Wednesday sent a telegram of condolences to Premier of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang.

This came following a devastating earthquake that hit the Chinese province of Sichuan, the Serbian government has announced.

Rescuers picked away rubble from around a body in an area shaken by a powerful earthquake in mountainous southwestern China, then stood silently in a row, with helmets off and heads bowed to pay their respects.

At least 13 people were killed and 175 more injured late Tuesday after a powerful earthquake struck a popular tourist area in southwest China, according to state media, quoted by CNN.

Of those hurt, about 28 had been severely injured, state-owned media outlet Xinhua said. The quake struck Jiuzhaigou County in China's southwestern Sichuan Province late on Tuesday night.