Strong earthquake hits SW China

An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted Kangding county, Garze prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province at 4:55 pm on Saturday, the China Earthquake Networks Center reported.

The epicenter, at a depth of 18 km, was initially determined to be at a latitude of 30.3 degrees north and longitude of 101.7 degrees east.

Residents felt a strong tremor in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, about 470 km north of the epicenter, according to reporters from chinanews.com.