71,000 HOMES FLATTENED AS 2ND QUAKE HITS CHINA; Hundreds hurt in new hell.Byline: By Ben Spencer A QUAKE aftershock af·ter·shock n. 1. A quake of lesser magnitude, usually one of a series, following a large earthquake in the same area. 2. killed one person and destroyed tens of thousands of homes in China yesterday. More than 400 were injured by the shock, the strongest of dozens which have hit since the devastating earthquake two weeks ago. Some 71,000 homes that had survived the original quake were level led, and another 200,000 were in danger of collapse last night. The shock caused office towers to sway in Beijing, 800 miles away. Landslides jammed rivers across the disaster area in Sichuan, creating 35 new lakes. This has put 700,000 quake survivors at risk of being flooded out, a official said. The aftershock hit as it was announced that the confirmed quake death toll had risen to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing. The biggest concern last night was the new Tangjiashan lake in Beichuan county. A group of 1600 police and soldiers were hiking overland carrying heavy packs of explosives to blast through debris. Bad weather meant helicopters could not be used to carry the explosives. The ministry of water resources Ministry of Water Resources (Chinese: 水利部 Pinyin: shuǐlì bù) is the executive government agency of the Central People's Government responsible for managing the water resources in China. also said 69 dams in Sichuan were in danger of collapse from quake damage but reservoirs have been drained to lessen the risk. The world's largest water project, the Three Gorges dam Three Gorges Dam, 607 ft (185 m) high and 7,575 ft (2,309 m) long, on the Chang (Yangtze) River, central Hubei prov., China, 30 mi (48 km) W of Yichang. The largest concrete structure in the world, the dam was constructed from 1994 to 2006. , which is about 350 miles from the epicentre epicentre Point on the surface of the Earth that is directly above the source (or focus) of an earthquake. There the effects of the earthquake usually are most severe. See also seismology. of the quake, was not damaged. Meanwhile, 80-year-old Xiao Zhihu was rescued in Mianzhu, Sichuan province, more than 11 days after the earthquake. He had been trapped under a collapsed pillar of his house and survived after being fed by his wife. Elsewhere in the disaster zone, people ventured back to homes to retrieve belongings, but some decided the risk of entering damaged buildings was too great. Miner Zhang Heqing, 58, from the town of Hanwang, said: "I just don't dare to go in. "I live on the fifth floor and the staircase is blocked and you can't even open the doors." Nearby, families were living in makeshift shelters of picnic table A picnic table (or sometimes a picnic bench) is a modified table with benches expressly for the purpose of eating a meal outdoors (picnicking). In the past, picnic tables were typically made of wood, but modern tables can be made out of anything from recycled plastic to umbrellas and nylon tarps draped over wood frames. But not everyone was facing such problems. One man pointed to a neat row of tents up a hill and said: "Local government officials have done a good job for themselves. They're living up there." "They didn't do such a good job here where the regular folk have to live." A total of 15million homes were destroyed in the quake and the Chinese government Ever since Republic of China founded in January 1st, 1912, China has had several regional and national governments. List
THE controversial Tibetan leg of the Olympic torch relay has been cut to one day because of the earthquake in Sichuan. The cut came after the relay was stopped during three days of national mourning. CAPTION(S): FLOODED: Power station. Top, Xiao Zhihu, 80, is rescued 11 days after quake; REUTERS |
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