All-out efforts have been made in the search and rescue operations. As of 8 am on Tuesday, more than 6,650 people, including members of the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police Force, firefighters, communication workers and medical personnel, as well as nine helicopters, had been sent to the quake zone.

Around 1,900 soldiers from the PLA's Western Theater Command were sent to help with earthquake relief and rescue work as of Tuesday morning.

A front-line command group reached the town of Moxi, the epicenter of the earthquake, after traveling overnight for six hours. The group established contact with local governments and emergency management departments to gather details of the situation and implement a unified response, the theater command said.

On Monday afternoon, the Western Theater Command tasked affiliated authorities, including the PLA Ground Force and PLA Air Force, the Sichuan Provincial Military Command and the Tibet Military Command, with immediate rescue operations and told them to stand by for further mobilization.

Medical workers with relief materials, including tents, power generators and flashlights had reached the hard-hit town of Detuo, which is 20 kilometers from the epicenter, said Luo Chukai, deputy head of the publicity department of the Luding county committee of the Communist Party of China. He added that power supplies had yet to be restored in the town.

Local residents were living in tents or had been evacuated to schools nearby, said Luo, who was in the town to assist with disaster-relief efforts.

Sichuan has allocated 50 million yuan ($7.18 million) in relief funds to Ganzi and another 50 million yuan to Ya'an, according to the information office of the provincial government.

Ning Guangxia contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at huangzhiling@chinadaily.com.cn