BEIJING -- Rescue efforts are underway after an earthquake in southwestern China that has left 12 people dead and 134 others injured.

The Yibin city press office said on its social media account that 73 houses had collapsed.

The Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management said hundreds of firefighters arrived early Tuesday, June 18, and had rescued eight trapped people.

A magnitude 6 earthquake and a magnitude 5.1 aftershock struck the area in Sichuan province late Monday night, June 17. Aftershocks continued into Tuesday morning, June 18.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that a hospital in Changning county had transferred all of its patients because of building damage.

The Ministry of Emergency Management sent firefighting crews and other rescue personnel, Xinhua said. The ministry and the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration have dispatched 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding beds and 20,000 quilts to the quake-hit areas.

The epicenter was 16 kilometers below the surface, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Shallow earthquakes tend to cause more damage to buildings and infrastructure.

China's worst earthquake in recent years struck the mountainous western portion of Sichuan province in 2008, killing nearly 90,000 people. That earthquake was about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Monday's quake.

A 1976 earthquake centered in the northeastern city of Tangshan killed at least 250,000 people. (AP)