China was poised on Saturday to dynamite a dangerous ”quake lake” to drain its waters as 1,3-million people nearby were kept on alert for possible evacuation. Workers set explosives on a dam formed by this month’s catastrophic earthquake in Sichuan province, after thousands of soldiers finished an enormous drainage channel after 10 days of frantic digging.
The rescue of 40 half-starved people from a remote village 16 days after China’s earthquake provided a rare piece of good news on Thursday as rain threatened more misery for millions of survivors. A military helicopter plucked the villagers from their quake-shattered mountain homes on Wednesday.
China has evacuated more than 150 000 people living below a swollen lake formed by this month’s devastating earthquake amid fears it could burst and trigger massive flooding, state media said on Wednesday. Tokyo’s Jiji news agency said China had called on Japan to send its military to help with relief operations.
Troops armed with dynamite scrambled on Tuesday to blast through a huge wall of debris that is damming a rising quake lake in south-west China and putting more than a million people at risk. With the May 12 earthquake death toll already standing at more than 65 000, officials are desperate to avoid another disaster.
A big aftershock rattled south-west China on Sunday killing at least one person and injuring 400 others, state media reported, nearly a fortnight after a big quake killed tens of thousands in the same area. More than 70 000 houses toppled during Sunday’s tremor in Sichuan province, state television reported. The 5,8 magnitude aftershock was epicentred 40km west-northwest of Guangyuan.
Police tried to stop anguished relatives from streaming into one of the worst-affected areas of China’s massive earthquake on Sunday, as another strong aftershock hit the area and the death toll rose to nearly 32 500. Hundreds of aftershocks have rattled Sichuan province following last week’s devastating 7,9-magnitude quake.
China struggled to bury its dead and help tens of thousands of injured and homeless on Friday when a powerful aftershock brought new havoc four days after an earthquake thought to have killed more than 50 000 people. Anger has focused on the state of school buildings, many of which crumpled in Monday’s 7,9-magnitude quake.