Swelling China lakes a danger 2 weeks after quake

MIANYANG, China-China planned to dynamite rock, mud and rubble forming a dangerously large "quake lake" on Monday, hoping to avert a new disaster two weeks after a catastrophic tremor struck Sichuan province.The official estimate of dead from the May 12 earthquake is now more than 60,000, but that number is certain to grow as searchers account for more of the 30,000 missing.Premier Wen Jiabao believes the toll could exceed 80,000.The frenzied initial rescue response is cooling into a long battle with nature, deprivation and latent discontent sure to last long after thousands of aftershocks.Chinese soldiers carrying 10 kg (22 lb) of dynamite each arrived on Monday at the Tangjiashan lake, one of dozens formed by the earthquake, to try to blast away rubble, Xinhua news agency said, as heavy rain and high winds were forecast.The lake's barrier was in danger of bursting after the water rose by nearly two meters on Saturday to 723 meters (2,372 ft), only 29 meters below the lowest part of the barrier."The lake is now holding more than 128 million cubic meters of water and may cause a devastating flood if the barrier bursts," Xinhua said.
Mianyang, a city near the worst-hit areas, had returned to a kind of normality, with shops open and traders and pedestrians filling streets. But much remained to remind China that absorbing the damage of the quake will take many years.
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As in the days of Noah....