Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China     

    CHENGDU, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Sichuan has taken steps to reduce the risks of "quake lakes", formed by landslides that blocked rivers, prior to rainy weather or further aftershocks, said a provincial water resources official.

    "There were 33 such lakes in Sichuan. Three quake lakes, respectively in Anxian, Qingchuan and Beichuan counties, were the biggest," said Zhu Bing, deputy head of the water resources authority in Sichuan Province.

    He said the province has been closely monitoring such lakes and formulated emergency response plans, including evacuating people to safer places when necessary and blasting or digging of sluices to discharge water.

    The southwestern province was the hardest hit in the 8-magnitude earthquake on May 12.

    Yun Xiaosu, vice land and resources minister at a press conference held Thursday in Beijing on quake relief said in total 34 quake lakes had formed.

    Liu Yuan, deputy head of the geological environment department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, said the quake lakes, formed as water was blocked from following river beds by rock and mud slides set off by the earthquakes, were very dangerous.

    The water level of some quake-lakes has risen, threatening vast areas, said Liu. The Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly sent experts to check and assess the condition of the lakes. The experts departed from Beijing for the sites on Thursday, Liu added.

    According to Yin Yueping, deputy chief engineer with China Geological Survey, efforts are being made to evacuate people living downstream of the lakes. But he did not reveal the exact population to be evacuated.