Society

More than 6,000 relocated as rains soak quake zone in SW China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-21 20:35

CHENGDU - More than 6,200 residents were relocated Tuesday as torrential rains pounded Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County in southwest China's Sichuan Province, local authorities said Tuesday.

A rain-triggered landslide has blocked the outlet of the Tangjiashan Barrier Lake formed during the catastrophic quake of 2008, threatening lives and properties, according to a statement issued by the county's government.

Some 300,000 cubic meters of debris brought by the landslide caused a dam, blocking the lake's outlet. The dam's lowest point is 10 meters higher than the present water level, the statement said.

Debris still continue to come down from the hills, and if there were more rains, then the lake level would further rise, threatening the lives of people in nearby townships.

The rains had disrupted the normal life of 58,000 local residents in the county, causing huge economic losses, the statement said.

Beichuan is one of the counties hit hardest by the Wenchuan earthquake which hit on May 12, 2008. The 8.0-magnitude quake, centered in Sichuan's Wenchuan County, 160 kilometers away from Beichuan, left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.