BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares open 3.07 percent lower on Tuesday, reacting to the strong earthquake happened in southwest China on Monday afternoon.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, opened at 3,515.71 points, down 3.07 percent.

    The Shenzhen Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange opened at 12,727.76 points, losing 3.33 percent.

    "Since earthquake is a natural disaster happened in part areas, the affection is limited to the listing companies." said Wang Xiaohui, a Shanghai-based economist with Sinolink Securities.

    Analyst from the Research Center of Changjiang Securities echoed Wang's view, saying investors may face psychological shock, but the earthquake has a limited impact on the county's overall economy and profits of listing companies.

    Li Feng, a senior equity strategy analyst with Galaxy Securities said that the earthquake may impact some specific industries including insurance, travel and tourism, and relevant listing companies are in turn to be affected.

    The strong earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province on Monday has made 66 stock listing companies stop trading as of Tuesday.

    A 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province at 2:28 p.m. Monday, and more than 1,000 aftershocks have been recorded.

    The death toll caused by the earthquake climbed to 9,219 by Tuesday morning.