China begins draining quake lake

Location of Lake

Water from the lake is being drained through a man-made sluice

Chinese troops have begun draining a "quake lake" at Tangjiashan, formed behind a landslide after the 12 May earthquake in Sichuan province.

Water started draining through a sluice and channel built to release some of the water threatening to break through the make-shift dam.

More than 250,000 people have already been evacuated to higher ground.

Experts had warned the lake could burst at any time, sending millions of cubic metres of water down river valleys. ........Rest Of Article

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Taiwan's National Space Organisation has released satellite images of the Beichuan area of Sichuan, showing how the earthquake has caused huge landslides.

The river running down from the mountains through Beichuan has been blocked by earth (seen as brown). Roads have been covered and buildings swept away.


Blocked rivers have formed around 30 lakes in the earthquake zone, like the one illustrated here above Beichuan. Lakes like this pose a serious flood risk to people living downstream. Creating channels to drain the lakes before any flooding can occur is now a key task for the Chinese authorities.






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