There have been no immediate reports about casualties or damage caused by the quake.
China is located in a seismically active zone and regularly suffers from powerful earthquakes. The Sichuan province was hit by a 8.0-magnitude earthquake on March 12, 2008, that killed around 70,000 people.
The latest deadly earthquake in Sichuan occurred in August and left 25 people killed and over 500 injured.