September 5, 2022: At least 21 people have been killed after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit southwestern China, state media said.

The quake struck at 13:00 local time (05:00 GMT) in Sichuan province at a depth of 10km (6 miles).

The impact severed telecommunications lines and triggered mountain landslides that caused "serious damage", local media reports say.

Some 21 million people in Sichuan's capital Chengdu were earlier ordered to stay home because of Covid rules.

The epicentre of the quake was at Luding, a town in a remote mountain region located about 226km southwest of Chengdu, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

Tremors shook buildings in Chengdu and the neighbouring mega-city of Chongqing, leaving roads blocked and cutting telecommunications lines in areas home to more than 10,000 residents, according to broadcaster CCTV.

The shocks also forced some power stations to shut down in the areas of Garze and Ya'an, the Chinese broadcaster said.

More than 500 rescue personnel have been despatched to the epicentre, while workers laboured to clear roadblocks caused by landslides, according to state broadcaster CGTN.