Sept. 5 (UPI) -- At least 46 people have been killed and another 50 injured when a powerful 6.6.magnitude earthquake struck southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday, according to the state-run Global Times.
The earthquake hit southwestern China's Sichuan Province at a depth of 6.2 miles about 27 miles southeast of Kangding city at12:52 p.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered a massive relief effort in the region to rescue survivors. The earthquake could be felt as far away as 135 miles from the epicenter, officials said.
Videos taken by survivors showed large cracks to numerous buildings in the region with others leaning over. The Sichuan earthquake administration activated a level to its second-highest emergency response.
Sichuan Province and Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture authorities organized emergency personnel to conduct disaster relief missions to the area, sending tents, quilts, cots and other resources to affected areas.
Sichuan Premier Li Keqiang urged swift evaluations in the region as well as calling for an influx of medical supplies and resources.
Meanwhile, China's earthquake networks center has gauged the shock to have been a 6.8 magnitude strike that was felt 140 miles away in Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, state-run Xinhua news reported.
The USGS said the earthquake was the result of shallow strike-slip faulting on the western margin of the Sichuan basin.
Earthquakes in the region are common, it said, with 25 other temblors with a magnitude of 5 or stronger hitting the area in the past two decades.
The natural phenomenon occurred Monday after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit on May 12, 2008, killing more than 69,000 people. On April 20, 2013, a 6.6-magnitude earthquake resulted in the deaths of 196 people, the USGS said.