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Mianzhu: China was preparing to dynamite rock, mud and rubble forming a dangerously large "quake lake" on Monday, hoping to avert a new disaster two weeks after a catastrophic earthquake struck Sichuan province.
The government put the death toll from the May 12 earthquake at 65,080, an increase of more than 2,400 from a day earlier. The figure is certain to rise as searchers account for the 23,150 missing. A total of 360,058 people were injured.
The Communist Party's decision-making Politburo warned that the situation remained "grim" and relief work arduous after the country's "most destructive" tremor since 1949, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The frenzied initial rescue response is cooling into a long battle with nature, deprivation and latent discontent sure to last long after thousands of aftershocks.
Chinese soldiers carrying 10kg of dynamite each arrived yesterday at the Tangjiashan lake, one of dozens formed by the earthquake, to try to blast away rubble, Xinhua news agency said, as heavy rain and high winds were forecast.
The lake's barrier was in danger of bursting after the water rose by nearly two metres on Saturday to 723 metres, only 29 metres below the lowest part of the barrier.
"The lake is now holding more than 128 million cubic metres of water and may cause a devastating flood if the barrier bursts," Xinhua said. Mianyang, a city near the worst-hit areas, had returned to a semblance of normalcy, with shops open and traders and pedestrians filling streets. But much remained to remind China that absorbing the damage of the quake will take many years.
The city sports stadium was thronged by thousands of the estimated 5 million people displaced by the quake. City roads were busy with troops and supply trucks that will have to support towns and villages for a long time yet.
In a town outside the city of Mianzhu, residents said their biggest worry was how they would endure the rainy months in tents.
On the outskirts of Mianzhu, thousands of displaced people remained in a huge encampment sweltering in government-issued tents.
Calamities
Nature's wild side
December 26, 2004 - Asia The number of dead and missing after a 9.15-magnitude quake off the coast of Indonesia and subsequent tsunami is at least 232,000.
March 28, 2005 - Indonesia Nearly 1,000 people are killed after a 8.7-magnitude quake strikes the Sumatra coast.
July-August, 2005 - India More than 1,000 people are killed after an unprecedented deluge in the state of Maharashtra on July 26.
October 8, 2005 - Pakistan At least 73,320 people killed by a 7.6-magnitude quake that strikes 95 km northeast of Islamabad.
February 17, 2006 - Philippines Mudslide triggered by heavy rain buries 1,000 in the Philippines.
May 27, 2006 - Indonesia More than 5,700 killed when an earthquake centred just off the Indian Ocean coast hits Java.
June-July, 2007 - Indian Subcontinent Monsoon storms kill about 1,750 people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, and Pakistan.
November 15, 2007 - Bangladesh Cyclone Sidr kills about 3,500 people.
May 2/3, 2008 - Myanmar The official toll of dead and missing tops 134,000 after Cyclone Nargis rips through the Irrawaddy Delta.
- Reuters
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