CHINA:AS RECONSTRUCTION efforts continued in the quake zone and despite ongoing aftershocks rocking Sichuan province, relief workers were preparing to ease pressure on a swollen "quake lake" threatening hundreds of thousands of people downstream as the water level quickly rises toward a man-made sluice.
More than 69,000 have been confirmed dead in the quake so far, which has left five million people homeless. There are still more than 20,000 people missing.
The earthquake on May 12th, nearly four weeks ago, formed more than 30 "quake lakes" after landslides blocked rivers, raising fears that flooding could be the next disaster the region has to face.
The largest was the Tangjiashan lake, where water behind the lake's natural mud-and-rock dam rose to 739.5m (2,440ft) above sea level early yesterday, a perilous half-metre from the sluice according to local media reports.
The Xinhua news agency issued grim reminders of previous disastrous "quake lakes" which burst their banks weeks after two powerful earthquakes hit the same area in 1786 and 1933, both killing several times more people than those who died directly from the tremors. More than 250,000 people have already been evacuated from Beichuan, Mianyang and Jiangyou, adding to the millions of citizens already displaced when their homes collapsed or were badly damaged in the actual earthquake.
Complicating the relief effort is the fact that aftershocks continue to rock Sichuan. The US Geological Survey said it detected a 5.3-magnitude aftershock 65km west of Guangyuan.
Heavy rainfall and what the Xinhua news agency called "other uncertain factors" were increasing the chance of the unstable dam collapsing.
Visiting the lake, premier Wen Jiabao urged workers there to ensure there were no casualties and called it a "critical moment" for Tangjiashan.
Soldiers have already dug a channel, hoping to drain the lake, while there are unspecified plans to evacuate the area.
Separately, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that between 1,000 and 2,000 children were orphaned by the quake, which also claimed many thousands of young lives, although there are no official figures for the number of children who died.
The ministry official said preference would be given to parents who lost their children in the disaster when applying for adoptions.