A powerful earthquake struck the steep hills of China’s south-western Sichuan province today, leaving at least 156 people dead and more than 5,500 injured, nearly five years after a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region.

China has closed down more than a dozen websites, penalising two popular social media sites and detaining six people for circulating rumours of a coup which rattled Beijing in the midst of its worst high-level political crisis in years.