At least 1 killed as quake strikes China's Sichuan province

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck China's Sichuan province on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, shaking a region already devastated by a previous tremor in May that killed nearly 70,000 people and left five million homeless.

China's official news agency Xinhua reported that one person was killed and 23 others injured in the latest tremor, which struck shortly before 6 p.m. local time.

Sichuan has been subjected to thousands of aftershocks following the massive 7.9-magnitude temblor that laid waste to region on May 12.

An official with the Canadian Red Cross, Gail Neudorf, said 35,000 relief workers are in the area while 100,000 tents have also been sent in. About 7,250 of those were provided by the Canadian Red Cross, with an additional 700 tents donated by the Canadian government.

"So, there have been some very significant inroads in what is the start of a recovery operation," Neudorf said.

The latest tremor struck just a few hours after the Olympic torch relay passed through the provincial capital of Chengdu. It was the flame's last stop before officially opening the Beijing Summer Games on Friday.

A massive reconstruction effort is underway in Sichuan to repair cities and towns rendered uninhabitable by the May quake.