The 7.9 magnitude tremor of May 12 and thousands of aftershocks changed the landscape forever, blocking rivers, weakening mountain walls and creating unstable lakes where there was once dry land.
Nearly 80,500 people are dead or missing, the government said on Thursday, as concerns rose that disease, rain and aftershocks could bring yet more disaster to the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Premier Wen Jiabao, making his second visit to the disaster zone, overflew a quake lake in Tangjiashan in devastated Beichuan county, one of 33 formed by landslides blocking rivers. The one in Tangjiashan is one of the three largest.
Wen, himself a geologist, ordered rescue workers to eliminate the danger of the lakes "through engineering means" while swiftly evacuating people in their path.
Last week's tremor changed the landscape of northern Sichuan, as mountainsides were obliterated along the Longmenshan fault.
In Hongguang, in northeastern Sichuan, the earthquake caused both sides of a valley to slide, burying three villages and 900 people. The Qingzhu River is trapped behind.
"The mountains merged," said Gao Xiao, who barely escaped a landslide that roared past her house.
Republished with permission FOCUS Information Agency
