After the 7.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Lushan county in Southwest China's Sichuan province on Saturday morning, neighboring Guizhou province put its fire department on standby to aid rescue efforts.

Guizhou fire department confirmed that a heavy search team were assembled within 1.5 hours after the earthquake struck. Rescue teams from Zunyi and Anshun cities are also standing by for further instructions.

By midday, the Guizhou fire department had set up five rescue teams made up of eight vehicles, 240 rescuers and six rescue dogs.