A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit parts of Shaanxi and Sichuan province, Xinhua said, following earlier shocks of 5.6 and 4.9 magnitude.

Details of the death and injuries were not immediately known.

Nearly 70,000 people died when a 7.9-magnitude quake hit Sichuan on May 12.

Another 18,000 people are still missing and five million were left homeless in China's worst disaster in three decades.

There have been hundreds of aftershocks in Sichuan, but most are under 4.0 magnitude.