The water level in a huge quake lake in southwest China's Sichuan Province is falling quickly three days after drainage began.
The water level in the Tangjiashan barrier lake dropped more than 10 meters Tuesday morning, with the lake draining through a 130-meter-wide manmade diversion channel at a rate of over 5,000 cubic meters per second.
Water flowing out of the lake has reached towns in the lower reaches, including Jiangyou city. Local traffic officer Yang Zhiguang said the city is well-prepared.(Www.hxen.com)
"They have been preparing to tackle any possible problem for more than ten days. We were informed this morning, and then limited traffic in the city to keep people safe."
The officer says they are warning people who are still in the city to get out as soon as possible. Local authorities say there have been no casualties in the drainage process.
Experts monitoring the process say the lake has begun to breach the dam. Rescuers around the lake area have been evacuated by helicopter.
Four small barrier lakes at the lower reaches of the Tangjiashan barrier lake have also begun to burst over their banks, but no threat to nearby areas has been reported so far.
