SICHUAN (China), Sept 16 ― China said today it had launched an emergency response after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan early in the morning, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Sichuan's earthquake relief headquarters activated a level-II response, said Xinhua, the second-highest in China's four-tier emergency response system.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the epicentre was 29.2 degrees north latitude and 105.34 degrees east longitude. The quake struck at a depth of 10km (6 miles).

After the quake, which took place at 4.33am (2033 GMT) today, Luzhou City launched a level-I emergency response.

The GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said earlier that the earthquake measured a magnitude of 5.5. ― Reuters