China Earthquake

The toll from a strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake in China

rose to 12 dead and 134 injured as rescuers pulled bodies and survivors from wrecked buildings.

More than 4,000 people were relocated

as dozens of structures were damaged or collapsed

rescuers was bringing a survivor out of the rubble of a building on a stretcher overnight.

an electricity pole knocked down on the roof of a building,

a hole in a brick home and broken windows on the street.

Cracks appeared in several highways

and a major highway connecting Yibin and Xuyong was closed.

a hotel close to the epicentre collapsed,

but there was no immediate word of any casualties.

An early warning alarm system was triggered in the provincial capital Chengdu about one minute before the earthquake struck.

The alert rang 10 seconds before it hit Yibin.

more than 50 people were being treated in two hospitals.

More than 500 firefighters have been dispatched to the scene.

Rescue personnel were also sent with 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding cots and other emergency supplies,.

The area was hit by a series of at least four aftershocks,

the largest of which had a magnitude of 5.1.

Earthquakes regularly strike Sichuan,

a powerful 7.9-magnitude quake left 87,000 people dead or missing in 2008.