China: Army blasts quake-hit dam

The massive lake caused by the Chinese earthquake was still rising today despite military efforts to blast away the wall of debris that created it.

Soldiers used anti-tank weapons on rocks and mud holding back waters that threaten more than a million people downstream.

They dislodged enough to speed the drainage of waters in Tangjiashan lake, but the level continued to rise with inflow from the blocked river behind the dam, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

By today the water level had reached more than six feet above a spillway carved into the dam last week to divert water and release pressure on the unstable wall.

David Petley, a geography professor at the University of Durham, warned the situation at the lake appeared to be reaching crisis levels.

“The teams on the dam are fighting a desperate battle now,” he said. “The outcome is very uncertain.”

Rising water levels indicate the outflow was not fast enough, he said. Photos showed worrying signs that the top of the dam was holding, instead of eroding slowly as it should, while the channel further down was eroding too quickly.

That potentially could place increased pressure on the dam by suddenly sucking down large volumes of water, overwhelming the barrier, he said.

“I am increasingly concerned about the state of play as the level of the lake continues to rise and the channel at the crest of the dam does not appear to be eroding,” he said.

New landslides sparked by a magnitude five aftershock yesterday underscored the threat of flooding.

More than 250,000 people downstream from the lake have been evacuated in recent weeks, adding to the turmoil created by last month’s massive earthquake in Sichuan province.

Many were living in improvised camps on surrounding hillsides, surviving on instant noodles and suffering from heat, mosquitoes, and a lack of water for bathing.

The lake was formed when rubble from a massive landslide set off by the deadly May 12 earthquake blocked the flow of the Tongkou River, also known as the Jianjiang.

Managing the lake has become a priority for a government working to head off another catastrophe even as it cares for millions left homeless. More than 1.3 million people live downriver from Tangjiashan.

It is the largest of more than 30 created by last month’s quake.