Water reaches dangerous level at quake lake

By Li Xinran and Yang Jian  |   2008-6-6  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE water level was within 50 centimeters of the banks of a lake created by the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province, People's Daily reported today.

Engineers at the scene planned to take some measures to accelerate a drainage channel at Tangjiashan Lake, the report said.

Drainage will start 10 hours later than expected with the process starting sometime this evening or tomorrow morning, the report said.

It was expected that the lake, which holds more than 200 million cubic meters of water, would start draining as soon as the water level reached the lowest point of the dam.

More people were evacuated to higher ground yesterday as a safety precaution, but the water level in the quake lake has risen steadily.

The water level at the lake in Beichuan County had risen to 739.5 meters by 1:30pm today, about 1 meter higher than at 5pm yesterday, the report said.


Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Mianyang City downstream from the lake yesterday afternoon and, aboard a helicopter, saw the drainage process. It was his third trip to the zone since the earthquake hit on May 12.

"Now is a critical moment for the Tangjiashan quake lake, and the most important thing is to ensure there are no casualties," Wen said yesterday.

The May 12 earthquake has killed 69,127 people with 17,918 more missing, according to official figures released yesterday.