MIANZHU, China (AFP) - Soldiers raced Monday to blast clear a river dammed by landslides after China's deadly earthquake two weeks ago, amid fears that more than one million people could be at risk from flooding.
The operation to reduce the so-called "quake lake" in mountainous Sichuan province came as the confirmed death toll from the huge tremor passed 65,000, with more than 23,000 others still missing.
warning of major flooding if it burst.

By Fu Jing (China Daily) MIANYANG, Sichuan - Amid low visibility, a Russian helicopter successfully delivered a large bulldozer and other eight sets of big machineries near the swelling Tangjiashan lake, in order to dig a diverting channel to prevent a flood, said Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei.
Photo taken on May 22, 2008 shows an aerial view of part of the Tangjiashan lake created by landslides in Beichuan county, Sichuan province. [Xinhua]
were formed after landslides blocked rivers.

CHENGDU, China (CNN) - Chinese military engineers Monday prepared to dynamite a potentially dangerous "quake lake" created when landslides dammed a river after this month's earthquake in which more than 65,000 people were killed, state-run media reported.
amite and heavy equipment to the site Monday morning. About 1,800 Chinese soliders and police are already at the site. Video Watch report on rising lake that has drowned homes ».
a day after the initial quake.

By Lydia Chen 2008-5-26 AUTHOTIES have evacuated more than 30000 people in the lower stream of a barrier lake in Sichuan Province as soldiers are trying to

ANXIAN, China (AP) - Chinese soldiers prepared Monday to explode earthquake debris blocking a river where quickly rising waters threatened to flood disaster victims.
Two weeks after the magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit central Sichuan province, lakes formed by obstructed rivers clogged by landslides were adding new complications to recovery efforts already strained to find shelter for millions of homeless.
n evacuated in recent days as a precaution.

By Tian Ying and Paul Tighe May 26 (Bloomberg) - China sent troops and police to try to prevent floods threatening more than 700,000 survivors of the country's deadliest earthquake in 32 years in Sichuan province, as weather forecasters said thunderstorms were on the way.
Military engineers carrying dynamite arrived early today at the site of a lake created by landslides that lies 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) from Tangjiashan in Beichuan County, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Helicopters also dropped men and equipment, it said.
voirs are in ``immediate'' danger of bursting and measures, such as draining the worst-damaged constructions, are being taken.

BEIJING, May 26 (RIA Novosti) - Over 200000 homes in China's southwest Sichuan Province, devastated by a deadly quake May 12, are in danger of collapsing

BEIJING - Thousands more buildings collapsed and at least one person was killed as China was hit yesterday by the strongest aftershock since the May 12 earthquake that killed more than 62600 people.
The temblor of 6.4 magnitude jolted Qingchuan county in Sichuan province yesterday, according to the China National Seismic Network. The US Geological Survey measured the strength at 5.8. Officials said one person was reported killed by late yesterday, and 400 injured. At least 70000 buildings collapsed in yesterday’s earthquake.
Xinhua News Agency reported.

MIANYANG, Sichuan, May 26 (Xinhua) - Rescuers are preparing to dynamite the barrier of a swelling earthquake-induced lake at risk of bursting and threatening thousands of people downstream in southwest China.
Experts have proposed a water diversion channel to drain Tangjiashan lake, formed by landslides that blocked a river known as the Jianhe after the May 12 earthquake.
angjiashan, one of 35 such lakes, is inaccessible by road and can only be reached by foot or air.

Residents of Chenjiaba, in earthquake-stricken Beichuan County, ran into the streets after the tremors on Sunday. By evening, the state news agency had reported two deaths and 480 injuries.
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Chinese governments response.

By Chris Buckley MIANYANG, China (Reuters) - China planned to dynamite rock, mud and rubble forming a dangerously large "quake lake" on Monday,

Desperate for shelter, their lives in shards around them, it was the moment that five million refugees in Sichuan province have dreaded for two weeks – a massive aftershock and another terrifying wave of destruction.
With ominous rainclouds gathering overhead, and with the Government betraying its rising panic over the possible collapse of the “quake lakes”, the stricken province was hit by a tremor that measured 6.4 on the Richter scale.
m bursts under mounting pressure, floods would devastate what little remains in the valley.

BEIJING, May 25 (Reuters) - China said on Sunday it will review the 13 planned hydropower projects in the country's southwest after the massive May 12 quake, but expects no big change to the plans.
"We are going to review these projects from the geological conditions and environmental impact after the quake. But we foresee no big change to the plans," Liu Ning, chief engineer of Ministry of Water Resources a news conference.
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China's earthquake zone has been warned to prepare for heavy rains which could hamper further relief efforts.
There are concerns that construction of temporary shelters for five million homeless could be delayed, while water levels in dams and lakes remain high.
Mianzhu, more than 11 days after the quake, state TV said.

By Chris Buckley JIANGYOU, China (Reuters) - Hundreds of troops carrying explosives trekked through a quake-devastated area in southwest China on Sunday, attempting to reach a "quake lake" that threatens a secondary disaster.
Concerned by a steep rise in the water level of a giant lake at Tangjiashan, authorities want to blast a hole in the barrier before it bursts and causes a flashflood. Thousands have been evacuated below the lake as a precaution.
State media reported that bad weather had prevented the airlift of personnel and equipment into the area, and that 1,800 soldiers were sent to the lake by foot.