Thousands of People Evacuated in China

In China, 200,000 people were evacuated by early Saturday to safer places due to a lake formed by the recent earthquake threatening to breach its dam. Hundred of Chinese troops have been working to drain Tangjashan Lake in Sichuan province. The lake was formed when a hillside plunged into a river valley during the earthquake on May 12^th that killed 68,977 people and left 17,974 missing, according to most recent updates.

A runoff channel has been recently completed and water is expected to be discharged between Sunday and Tuesday. Another 1.3 million people in the area will be evacuated if the barrier of the lake fully opens and floods the area.

Evacuation Warnings in China

It is possible that more than one million people might have to evacuate dozens of villages in a Sichuan province if the lake bursts and floods the area due to the recent earthquake. The lake has a wall of debris that is clogging a river. On Saturday, officials will start a three-day drill that will test the government communications systems to make sure that residents in the valley can hear future evacuation orders.

So far, it is estimated that 68,858 people were killed in the earthquake and there are 18,618 people that are missing. The earthquake left 5 million people homeless and many people were separated from their families.