China's quake death toll rises to 35,000; as more tremors shake area
Pastor Dale Morgan
China's quake death toll rises to 35,000; as more tremors shake area*
May 18, 2008, 9:28 GMT
Beijing - A strong aftershock, rain and minor floods battered
earthquake-devastated areas of south-western China on Sunday, as the
confirmed death rose to about 35,000 and rescuers continued to find
more survivors buried in collapsed buildings.
An aftershock measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook areas near
Jiangyou city in Sichuan province at 1:08 a.m. on Sunday (1708 GMT
Saturday), the government said.
The tremor was the latest of more than 20 aftershocks of 5.0 or higher
in Sichuan since a 7.9-magnitude earthquake on Monday.
The government said the casualty toll in Sichuan and neighbouring areas
had risen to 35,000 dead and 230,109 injured by Sunday afternoon.
Three natural lakes, formed after landslides blocked a river, overflowed
early Sunday in Sichuan's Qingchuan county but caused no immediate
danger to some 600,000 residents of towns and villages downstream, the
official Xinhua news agency said.
More than 10 million cubic metres of water were estimated to have
accumulated in the three lakes, the agency quoted earthquake relief
officials as saying.
Water burst from another barrier lake on Friday along the Jianjiang
river near Sichuan's Pengzhou city, but residents downstream were
evacuated in time and no casualties were reported, the agency said.
On Saturday, residents of nearby Beichuan began rushing onto hillsides
after reports that a barrier lake formed upstream was imminent danger of
flooding the town.
The river through the town had almost dried up, witnesses said, because
a landslide had blocked it and formed the lake.
Xinhua earlier Saturday said the military had ordered the evacuation of
injured people from the town, where only 10,000 of the 30,000 residents
were reported to have survived Monday's devastating quake.
The earthquake destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings, killed at
least 35,000 people and left some five million homeless.
Rescuers found another survivor in Beichuan on Sunday, 139 hours after
he was buried in a collapsed building.
The man, whose wife was also rescued on Thursday, was coherent and had
only minor injuries, reports said.
At least 63 people were rescued on Saturday in Sichuan, where thousands
of others were believed to be still buried under rubble, the agency said.
Rescue and relief efforts were hampered by rain in Qingchuan and other
areas on Saturday, bringing more hardship to some of the many homeless
people who were sleeping outdoors or in makeshift tents.
Experts feared continued rainfall could raise the risk of flood from the
river above Qingchuan.
In Gansu province, which borders Sichuan, mud and rock swept away two
cars but caused no casualties after a 40-minute storm battered Chengguan
town on Saturday, the agency said.