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China: Aftershocks destroy 420,000 more homes
Two additional aftershocks struck quake-ravaged China on Tuesday, injuring at least 63 people and causing the collapse of more than 420,000 homes, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua.The agency said the aftershocks struck the southwest town of Qingchuan in Sichuan Province, and neighboring Ningqiang in Shaanxi Province. A total of 63 people were injured in Qingchuan alone by the new aftershocks, with six in critical condition, Xinhua said. In total, authorities reported four aftershocks in the area Tuesday, all of them above magnitude 4.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Xinhua reported the two recent aftershocks at 5.4 and 5.7 magnitudes, citing the China National Seismological Network. The USGS said they measured 4.5 and 5.0 magnitude. The earlier aftershocks registered at magnitude 5.2 and 5.5, the USGS said. The aftershocks rattled the area as authorities were evacuating thousands of people in Sichuan province Tuesday so they could blast a potentially dangerous lake created by landslides from this month's earthquake. About 158,000 people were expected to flee their homes downstream by midnight, China's Xinhua news agency reported. The evacuations took place in nearly 170 communities. The number of evacuees could increase to more than a million if authorities fear the entire dam at Tangjiashan -- caused by the debris -- is about to give way. "It's better for them to complain about the trouble that the evacuation would bring than to shed tears after the possible danger," said Liu Ning of the Ministry of Water Resources. Tangjiashan lake was formed when landslides from the May 12 earthquake blocked a section of the Jianhe River. It is holding back 130 million cubic meters (170 million cubic yards) of water, according to Liu. Engineers are working to create a spillway to relieve pressure, but they do not have a lot of time to work with, Xinhua reported. The river has been rising at a rate of about two meters (six feet) a day and is within 26 meters (85 feet) of the top. Thirty-five of these so-called quake lakes were created by this month's 7.9-magnitude earthquake and 28 of them are "at risk," according to the Ministry of Water Resources. More than a thousand engineers and soldiers were working at the dam site in Beichuan County. The Chinese military flew in about 80 pieces of heavy equipment, because there are no roads into the area. Engineers have 10 tons of dynamite on hand to clear rock and soil for the spillway, which was expected to be several hundred yards long. The official death toll from the quake rose to 67,183 on Tuesday, an increase of more than 2,000, with about 21,000 missing. The government estimates that 45 million people, mostly in Sichuan province, were affected by the earthquake and that 5 million were left homeless. The total number of dead has been increasing on a daily basis, in part due to the havoc wrought by the aftershocks. A strong aftershock on Sunday killed at least eight people, injured about 1,000 others and destroyed more than 70,000 homes in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. The worst damage occurred in Sichuan, which has experienced thousands of aftershocks over the past two weeks, but Sunday's -- which the U.S. Geological Survey measured at a magnitude-6.0 -- was the strongest since a magnitude-5.8 tremor shook the region a day after the initial quake. Shaanxi experienced the highest death toll as a result of the aftershock, with four people losing their lives. One each died in Sichuan and Gansu. The aftershock damaged more than 200,000 other homes, according to state media. It also damaged another dam, cutting off several more roads in the region. Meanwhile, Chinese officials on Monday emphasized the country's one-child policy allows families with a child killed, severely injured or disabled to have another baby. OK, I think they've had enough now. Posted by: gorb 2008-05-28 |
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