Villagers stand near debris as they wait for rescuers to work following a landslide in Gengdi village in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. A rain-triggered landslide hit a village in southwest China on Tuesday, killing people and leaving others missing, authorities said. (Chinatopix via AP) CHINA OUT
Villagers stand near debris as they wait for rescuers to work following a landslide in Gengdi village in southwestern China's Sichuan province, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. A rain-triggered landslide hit a village in southwest China on Tuesday, killing people and leaving others missing, authorities said. (Chinatopix via AP) CHINA OUT

BEIJING — A strong earthquake shook a mountainous region in southwestern China near a famous national park, killing seven people, injuring 88 others and knocking out power and phone networks.

At least five of the dead were tourists. The information office of the Sichuan province government released an updated number of casualties early Wednesday, but it didn’t have more details on the victims of the Tuesday evening quake, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said. The office said 21 people were seriously injured.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for rapid efforts to respond to the quake and rescue the injured. Authorities sent medical teams, rescuers and other resources.

The magnitude-6.5 quake struck a region bordered by the provinces of Sichuan and Gansu at a depth of just 5.5 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage than deeper ones.

The China Earthquake Networks Center measured the earthquake at magnitude-7.0 and said it struck at a depth of 12 miles. The quake occurred around 9:20 p.m. near Jiuzhaigou, or Jiuzhai Valley, a national park known for spectacular waterfalls and karst formations, the Chinese agency said.

The area is located on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau in northern Sichuan province, home to many Tibetan and other villages.

A man surnamed Song who answered the phone at a local emergency office where the Jiuzhaigou national park is located, said the nearby town of Zhangzha reported the deaths and injuries. Song did not say where the five tourists who died were from.

The epicenter in Tuesday’s quake was about 24 miles from the county of Jiuzhaigou, which has a population of around 80,000, in an area that’s 6,562 feet above sea level. It was 177 miles from Chengdu, the densely populated capital of Sichuan province, according to the Chinese center. The Xinhua News Agency said strong tremors could be felt in Chengdu. The Sichuan provincial government’s news website said that after the quake struck, a number of train services to Chengdu and other cities were suspended.