Beijing - An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Ritcher scale shook a large area of south-western China's Sichuan province on Friday afternoon, the government said.

The quake was recorded at 4:32 pm (0832 GMT) Friday with an epicentre close to several of the areas worst-hit in the devastating May 12 earthquake in Sichuan, the State Seismological Brueau said on its website.

Severe landslides and major rockfalls were reported near Pingwu county and Nanba township in northern Sichuan, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Excavators were already clearing some of the landslides, and many people along the nearby Jiuzhaigou-Huanglong tourist route were evacuated, the agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, it said.

May's earthquake in Sichuan killed at least 70,000 people, with nearly 20,000 still listed as missing.

Friday's quake was the latest and one of the strongest of thousands of aftershocks following the May 12 quake. (dpa)