Aftershocks threaten swollen China 'quake lake' › Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

Powerful aftershocks continued to threaten the stability of a swollen “quake lake” in southwest China Monday, amid urgent efforts to drain its rising waters to prevent a flood downstream.

A 5.0-magnitude aftershock rattled the area of quake-devastated Sichuan province where the lake is located on Monday, U.S. seismologists reported. An aftershock of the same strength struck the region on Sunday.

A local official in the city of Mianyang, not far from the Tangjiashan lake, said the aftershocks had so far not affected the unstable body of water.

But state-run Xinhua news agency said Sunday’s tremor had caused “massive landslides” on nearby mountains, and state television said Monday that the situation remained “highly dangerous,” with hundreds of thousands of people living downstream.