CHENGDU, Dec. 25  -- A former senior official of an earthquake-hit city in southwest China's Sichuan Province has been dismissed from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for serious disciplinary violations, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Former vice mayor of Ya'an City and former member of the city's CPC Standing Committee, Pu Zhong, was placed under investigation in December 2013.

He has been removed from his posts on charges of graft, according to the provincial discipline inspection commission of the CPC.

Pu had been vice mayor of Ya'an since February 2010.

A 7.0-magnitude quake jolted Ya'an in April in 2013, leaving 196 dead and thousands injured.