Even with its massive weight and build, cute and cuddly yet scared pandas in China scrammed for safety at the height of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan province on April 20.

Footage from surveillance cameras inside Bifengxia Panda Base showed a giant panda panicking to climb up a tree when it felt the first shakes of the ground underneath his feet.

Bifengxia Panda preserve is located in Ya'an, just over 30 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake.

Although none of the 61 pandas, including 100 staff, were hurt, breeders are being more attuned to their needs and giving them extra care to calm their nerves, such as giving extra treats. Lengthened play time are also being given to the younger pandas.

"They have definitely been affected by the quake and we have taken some measures to calm them down," Wang Chengdong, in charge of preserve's animal management, said.

"Our breeders will spend more time with them to ease their strained nerves."

Fortunately for the pandas' habitats, the area only suffered minor damages from the April 20 natural disaster, according to the aerial remote sensing images that the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted on the area.

Buildings in the base suffered minor damage, Heng Yi, Bifengxia Panda Base director of publicity, said.

Ya'an holds 4,700 square kilometres of giant panda habitats, which is 30 per cent of its total area.

Following the April 20 earthquake, about 3,693 square kilometres or nearly 80 per cent of panda habitats in Ya'an were "moderately affected."