Rescue underway after earthquake hits Southwest China's Sichuan province

BEIJING - Nearly 300 rescuers are searching at the site of a magnitude 5.6 earthquake Thursday in Southwest China's Sichuan province, while almost 1,500 rescuers are on standby, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

No reports of casualties or ruined buildings were received as of 10 am, the ministry said.

The quake occurred at 3:49 am, with its epicenter at the Luding county of the Garze Tibetan autonomous prefecture, said the China Earthquake Networks Center. The tremor came from a depth of 11 km, it said.

Seismologists believed that the tremor was an aftershock of a 6.8-magnitude quake that rocked Luding county last September, killing more than 90.