The poignant moment rescue workers found the bodies of a mother holding her child in earthquake rubble

The death toll from the earthquake in the Sichuan province has hit 38, two days after the most recent in a series of tremors.

An appeal for temporary housing and tents has been launched today after the earthquake, which measured as high as 6.1 on the Richter scale, left tens of thousands homeless.

Rescue workers dig around the body of the woman protectively cradling her child

The quake hit the mountainous border between Yunnan and Sichuan provinces at around 4,30pm local time on Saturday, very close to an area still reeling from the May 12 earthquake which killed at least 70,000 people.

Its epicentre was about 20 miles southeast of Panzhihua, near the border with Yunnan, and around 6 miles underground.

The region has been plagued by hundreds of smaller, but still serious, tremors since then.

Saturday's quake injured 467 people and forced 152,000 to flee. The Xinhua news agency is reporting that more than 250,000 homes have been damaged.

Devastation: The earthquake has destroyed homes in the Sichuan province

The U.S Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7, but Xinhua said it measured 6.1.

A slightly smaller aftershock, measuring 5.6, hit the area 24 hours later, but there were no reports of further damage.

The government is rushing disaster relief to the affected areas, including thousands of tents and blankets.

Rescue effort: Workers are appealing for tents to help the thousands made homeless by the earthquake

A total of 656 schools have been damaged and rescue efforts are being hampered by heavy rain and difficult terrain. Mobile telephone communications area also patchy.

State television has showed pictures of houses with large cracks in the side, broken tiles on the roads and people receiving medical care in tents.

Sichuan province, known for its pandas and spicy cuisine, has struggled to rebuild after the May disaster which left 10 million homeless.