Close to the epicenter of the 7.9-magnitude quake, two mountains have collapsed, blocking a river and creating a huge lake; while another mountain has shifted, with a new one arising in its place. At least 33 smaller lakes have formed after rivers were blocked by landslides, and entire mountains have been stripped of vegetation near the epicentre. All over the affected areas, once-verdant mountains are now bare following extensive landslides.

The largest lake that was formed, on the Jian River adjacent to the city of Tangjiashan, was 725 metres deep and holding 130 million cubic metres of water as Geographical went to press. Fears that the lake might burst and flood areas downriver saw army engineers attempting to bulldoze a tunnel through the side of the mountain to divert some of the water, and then blast the blockage using dynamite.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from areas surrounding 19 of the other quake lakes as fears grew of flash flooding in already devastated regions. In Anxian county, about 50 kilometres south of Beichuan, the Chaping River has formed a lake that has submerged Shuangdian village.

The quake also damaged a large number of dams in the region. At a press conference in Beijing, E Jingping, the vice minister of water resources, said that 69 reservoirs were
in danger of bursting, with a further 320 reservoirs also damaged.            

Victor Borg
July 2008