At least 61 people were killed in northwest China's Shaanxi Province after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the neighboring Sichuan Province on Monday, local authorities said.

Meanwhile, 176 other people were injured, according to the Shaanxi Provincial Emergency Office.

The number of casualties is likely to increase further, the office said.

The powerful earthquake rocked Wenchuan County of Sichuan at 2:28 PM on Monday and more than 8,000 people are feared dead in the province.

The tremor was also strongly felt in many other parts of the country, leading to building collapses, cutoff of water and power supplies, and chaos of transport and communications.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)