By Lucy Hornby2 hours, 10 minutes ago
The onset of the rainy season is swelling dangerous "quake lakes" and compounding the difficulties of reconstruction after China's worst earthquake in decades.
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.
The Qingzhu landslides have formed five lakes, the biggest of which is almost 30 meters (98 feet) deep. A flood control team monitors the natural dams constantly, for fear they will burst and unleash a wall of water on the valley below.
"It's a lucky thing we haven't had a downpour recently," said Lu Lujun, an official with the Guangyuan county propaganda department.
But heavy rain is forecast, making life even more difficult for rescuers, relief workers and the millions either living in tents or under makeshift cover as their mourn their dead.
China's insurance companies are expecting to pay out about 300 million yuan ($43 million) in quake claims, the China Daily said on Friday.
"As reconstruction work gets under way in Sichuan, the number of insurance claims is expected to soar," it quoted Wu Dingfu, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, as saying.
Figures from the CIRC show that as of Wednesday, insurance companies had paid out 50.4 million yuan in claims -- 42.97 million yuan in life insurance claims and 7.47 million yuan in property and medical insurance.
"This is the worst year the insurance sector has ever faced, and payouts will be far higher than any on record," Wu said.
Earlier in the year, insurance firms paid out nearly 5 billion yuan on claims triggered by devastating snowstorms.
Sichuan, meanwhile, has been on high alert for rodent diseases, Xinhua news agency said, with large amounts of bait spread around the ruins.
More than 5,000 health workers have fanned out to disinfect ruined villages and doctors and nurses are stationed round the clock in refugee camps to try to prevent survivors from falling sick.
(Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by John Chalmers)
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