The earlier tremor yesterday was felt in Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu, the cities of Deyang, Mianyang and Guangyuan, as well as the Aba prefecture, the local earthquake administration said.

Mianzhu is about 40 km from Wenchuan, epicenter of the May 2008 quake, which caused 11,117 deaths and 37,000 injuries. About 92 percent of the houses were damaged by that tremor, according to official figures.

Some 57,000 aftershocks have been recorded in Sichuan since that earthquake, local seismologists said.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 yesterday damaged thousands of houses in Sichuan province.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 yesterday damaged thousands of houses in Sichuan province. People have to spend a night outdoors.

(China Daily July 1, 2009)