6/10/2008

in

The Chinese military has reduced the water levels in "quake" lake that was threatening 1.3 million people downstream.

Justin Zaremba

Chinese officials announced that they have won a "decisive victory" in reducing water levels by 20 meters in Lake Tangjiashan. Soldiers diverted water from the lake into the town of Beichuan using explosives. Lake Tangjiashan had been made unstable due to the fact that a dam had been damaged during last month's earthquake.  
  
According to Xinhua, a Chinese news agency, residents of Beichuan had already been evacuated to higher ground prior to the diversion of the lake. The town was ravaged by the earthquake on May 12.  
  
Two "massive blasts" on Monday evening widened a bottleneck in the drainage channel, Xinhua reported.  
  
Experts feared the lake could have suddenly burst its dam, threatening about 1.3 million people living downstream.  
  
Tangjiashan lake formed when a river became blocked by an earthquake caused landslide. Current estimates suggest that more than 30 "quake lakes" were created by the earthquake, which left almost 87,000 people dead or missing.