Rain will linger over much of quake-stricken southwestern Sichuan Province over the next three days, the Central Meteorological Station (CMS) said Monday.

A large part of Sichuan will have light or moderate showers and thundershowers between Monday evening and Wednesday morning, said Yang Guiming, the CMS' chief forecaster.

"The western part of the Sichuan Basin will see heavier rain," Yang said.

It will turn cloudy from Wednesday evening to Thursday, he said.

Rains will also fall on parts of Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province as well as north China in the next three days.

Rain storms are expected in southwestern Yunnan Province.

A major earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in the northwestern part of Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. Monday and tremors were felt in a large part of China.

There have been five reported deaths.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2008)