A powerful earthquake that hit southwest China on Monday rocked one of the nation's main panda breeding centres, state press reported, sparking concern for the welfare of the endangered animals.

The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake was in Wenchuan county, home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, China's leading research and breeding centre for the endangered animals, the Xinhua news agency said.

AFP was unable to reach the reserve by phone, and Xinhua quoted the State Forestry Administration (SFA) as saying late on Monday evening — about eight hours after the quake struck — that the centre was "out of contact".

All communication linking the centre to the outside world was cut after the earthquake hit, an SFA official told the news agency.

The Sichuan provincial government's forestry department also had no information from the centre, the official said.

Giant pandas are considered national treasures in China. The animals are notoriously poor breeders and have fast become one of the most endangered creatures in the world.

As of November last year, China had 239 giant pandas in captivity, with another 27 living outside the country. About 1590 more pandas are thought to be living in the wild.

Wolong Nature Reserve, which spans 2000 square kilometres, had bred 130 captive pandas by the end of 2007 from an original 10, according to earlier reports.

Xinhua reported that more than 7600 people had been killed by the quake in Sichuan province.

AFP