Magnitude-6.6 Earthquake Kills At Least 72 In Sichuan Province Of China Saturday: Report

UPDATE Saturday 9:20 a.m. EDT: A deadly magnitude-6.6 earthquake killed at least 156 people and injured at least 5,500 as it shook the Sichuan province of China Saturday at 8:02 a.m. local time, according to BBC News, citing reports on state television.

It is the worst earthquake in China in three years, officials said, Reuters reported.

President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang said all efforts must be exerted to rescue victims and to limit the death toll.

More than 2,000 soldiers have been deployed to the area in the country's southwestern province for rescue work, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

At a depth of 7.6 miles, the epicenter of the quake was 31 miles west-southwest of Linqiong, 62 miles east-northeast of Kangding, 69 miles northwest of Leshan and 71 miles west-southwest of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.