CHENGDU -- More than 2,000 soldiers were rushing to the area hit by a 7.0-magnitude quake in Southwest China's Sichuan province for rescue and relief work, military sources said Saturday.

The 2,000 soldiers were from the Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC). ? Meanwhile, two helicopters of the Chengdu MAC took off at 9:18 a.m from Jiajiang county to learn the developments on the ground.

The Chengdu MAC has already set up a quake relief and rescue headquarters.

It has also set up a medical relief team for the quake-hit region.

Live report: 7.0-magnitude quake hits Sichuan, 100 feared dead or injured