PTI
 
Beijing, May 12: A powerful earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale rocked southwest China on Monday, the Seismological Bureau said.

The quake struck Wenchuan County, 100 kms to the northwest of Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan, this afternoon, the Bureau said.

In Beijing also, the quake was felt with reports of buildings swaying and people running out of their apartments into the streets.

Zhengzhou, Chengu and Chongqing also reported major tremors, official Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua, quoting China's seismological forecast network, said eastern Beijing was jolted by the earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter Scale.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damages, it said. Wenchuan located in the southwest part of the Tibetan- Qiang autonomous prefecture, has a population of 111,800.

The Hong Kong observatory said in a bulletin that the epicentre was initially determined to be at 31.3 degrees North Latitude and 103.3 degrees East Longitude, or 80 kilometres West-northwest of Chengdu.

Several residents in Hong Kong called the observatory to report having felt the tremor, Xinhua said.