CHINA: May 23, 2008


GUANZHUANG, China - Chinese engineers are starting to make headway against lakes that have formed behind landslides, threatening yet more devastation on the earthquake-stricken valleys downstream.


Last week's big tremor changed the landscape of northern Sichuan province, as mountainsides were obliterated along the Longmenshan fault.

In Hongguang, in northeastern Sichuan, the earthquake caused both sides of a valley to slide, burying three villages and 900 people. The Qingzhu River is trapped behind.

"The mountains merged," said Gao Xiao, who barely escaped a landslide that roared past her house.

The Qingzhu landslides have formed five lakes, the biggest of which is almost 30 meters deep. A flood control team monitors the natural dams constantly, for fear they will burst and unleash a wall of water on the valley below.

"It's a lucky thing we haven't had a downpour recently," said Lu Lujun, an official with the Guangyuan county propaganda department.

The water level fell by about 10 cm (4 inches) on Thursday, as it was released through a sluice, he said.

Similar efforts are underway at 33 other quake lakes in the province, state media reported.

Sluices will be blasted or dug out by cranes, bulldozers and trucks to discharge water from the lakes after the remaining residents are evacuated, said Zhang Jian, chief of the water resources brigade of the local disaster relief headquarters of Mianyang.

On Saturday, thousands of survivors were evacuated from the area around Beichuan over concerns a lake formed by the Qianjiang River would burst.

Premier Wen Jiabao, a geologist by training, flew in a helicopter over that lake on Thursday, in his return visit to Sichuan. Wen first arrived in Sichuan within hours of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake on May 12.

"All of the roads have been destroyed, and it's not possible at this stage to get the equipment in by road," said Zhang, adding helicopter landing pads must be built.

"The risks increase by every metre that the water level rises. Downpours last night raised the water level by 3.7 metres," he said, referring to the lake above Beichuan, one of the largest, which he called "stable".

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)


Story by Lucy Hornby


REUTERS NEWS SERVICE