Chinese officials set up drainage at dangerous 'quake lake'

BEICHUAN COUNTY, China (CNN) - Chinese soldiers and engineers set up a drainage system at an earthquake-created lake that threatened to burst its banks in this central Chinese county, state-run media reported Saturday.

Tangjiashan Lake did not exist before the 7.9-magnitude earthquake which struck mountainous Sichuan province May 12. The quake caused a landslide that dammed Jianjiang River and created the lake.

By Saturday night, the team removed 135,500 cubic meters (176,150 cubic yard) of mud and rocks from the lake, leaving a 475-meter-long (519 yards) channel to divert overflow, Xinhua news agency reported.

The lake's water levels were rising about 1.6 meters (1.75 yards) a day. Authorities were concerned the lake could burst its banks, or that another aftershock or earthquake could rupture the earthen dam and cause a sudden flood of water on the communities downstream.
The project took nearly a week to complete.