CHENGDU, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 21 people have been killed in a 6.8-magnitude earthquake that jolted Luding County in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday, 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.

The Red Cross Society of China initiated a Level-III emergency response following the earthquake, 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 society 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 epicenter area.

The 6.8-magnitude earthquake jolted Luding County at 12:52 p.m. Monday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC).

The epicenter was monitored at 29.59 degrees north latitude and 102.08 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 16 km, the CENC said.

The epicenter is 39 km away from the county seat of Luding and there are several villages within the 5-km range around the epicenter.

The tremor was felt in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which is 226 km away from the epicenter. Enditem

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