China’s quake lake threatens century’s worst flood

Water from a swollen quake-formed lake in southwest China is finally gushing out threatening flooding.

Water from a swollen quake-formed lake in southwest China is finally gushing out threatening flooding downstream areas posing the danger of the worst flood in a century in temblor-hit Beichuan county.

Water discharge on the lower reaches of the Tanhjiashan lake reached 6,440 cubic metres a second, posing the danger of the worst flood in 100 years in Beichuan county which was pulverised in the 8-magnitude quake of May 12, state media said on Tuesday.

The flood had breached the dams of four small quake lakes on the lower reaches of Tangjiashan, one of the

more than 30 lakes spawned by the temblor when landslides triggered by it blocked rivers, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

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The agency said the flood is expected to reach Mianyang city also where authorities have already relocated more than 250,000 people in low-lying areas.

It said the gushing water washed away dead bodies of quake victims, TVs and refrigerators under the rubble in Beichuan, the worst-hit county where more than 8,600 of the 13,000 residents were killed in the deadliest quake in three decades. Beichuan remains sealed off after the quake.

The water level in Tangjiashan was expected to fall but the dam and the lake were still in danger before the water level drops to 720 metres, it said.

Faster draining of water had eased the risk on the lower reaches but the emergency headquarters was still on alert about more landslides and dam burst, the agency said.