New quake hits Chinese province

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 has struck Sichuan province in China, the US Geological Survey says.

The quake struck just before 1800 (1000 GMT), 48km (30 miles) north-west of Guangyuan city, and occurred at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), the agency said.

No injuries have been reported from the scene. In May, about 70,000 people died when an 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province.

Since then, thousands of aftershocks have rattled the region.

The epicentre of Tuesday’s earthquake was some 1,253km (778 miles) south-west of the Chinese capital, Beijing, where the Olympic Games are due to begin on Friday.

The quake came a few hours after the Olympic torch was paraded through Sichuan’s provincial capital, Chengdu, the last leg of its journey before it returns to Beijing for the opening ceremony.

The state media agency Xinhua said the tremors were felt in Chengdu.

Major reconstruction efforts have been under way in Sichuan province since the 12 May earthquake left about five million people homeless.