BEIJING (AP)

The Olympic torch relay will be simplified, downscaled and begin with a minute of silence today when a leg kicks off in the south-eastern city of Ruijin, a symbolic gesture to thousands who have died in a massive earthquake in central China.

The announcement yesterday by Beijing Olympic organisers came after a day in which officials first said there would be no changes to the relay. This came in the face of mounting pressure on Chinese-language websites and blogs, which overwhelmingly favoured some kind of moratorium either now or next month when the torch enters Sichuan province.

More than 12,000 people are reported to have died in Sichuan province alone, where the epicentre was located. The torch is due to arrive on June 13 in the sprawling city of Chongqing and enter neighbouring Sichuan two days later.

"The torch relay will be based on the principle of security comes first," organising committee spokesman Sun Wiede said. "We will reduce the scope of the torch relay. We will simplify the procedures. We will focus on simplicity."

Sun said ceremony would be reduced with fewer speeches and less pomp. He said the sombre relay would probably last until the torch reached the earthquake ravished areas with people along relay routes being asked to make donations to help quake victims.

The 7.9-magnitude quake rocked skyscrapers in Beijing, 900 miles (1,500 kilometres) away from the epicentre. However, the 31 Olympic venues in the city were undamaged. Organisers said six other venues outside Beijing were also unscathed.

After a chaos-filled month abroad dotted with pro-Tibet protests at half the stops and shortened routes at others, the Olympic torch returned May 4 to mainland China.