A 6.0-magnitude earthquake killed three people in southwest China's Sichuan province as the Olympic torch passed through the area on its final leg before reaching Beijing, state media said Wednesday.

At least 22 people were injured in the quake on Tuesday, one of the strongest since a devastating tremor hit the region in May, the China News Service reported.

The quake struck shortly after the three-day Olympic torch relay through Sichuan ended in the provincial capital Chengdu on Tuesday, before travelling on to Beijing.

Most of the houses collapsed in Wangjia village and buildings were partially collapsed in five surrounding villages, the report said.

Local defence forces were working on urgent repairs to roads that had been blocked in Yangshan county, it said.

Telephone lines were also down and people had to rely on mobile phones to communicate, the report said.

Two ambulances carrying seriously injured people to Guangyuan city were forced to travel through neighbouring Shanxi province because of a collapsed bridge in Yaodu township, the report said.

The quake's epicentre was 48 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Guangyuan city.

More than 12,600 aftershocks have rattled the region since an 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit on May 12, killing about 70,000 people.