China braces for possible lake bursts

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Premier Wen Jiabao said the 7.9 magnitude quake was "the biggest and most destructive" since before the Communist revolution of 1949 and the quick response had helped reduce casualties.

That compares even with the 1976 tremor in the north-eastern city of Tangshan which killed up to 300,000 people.

"THE WHOLE MOUNTAIN CHANGED SHAPE"

And as the weather gets warmer, survivors were increasingly worried about hygiene and asking questions about their longer-term future.

"What we don't need now is more instant noodles," said truck driver Wang Jianhong in the city of Dujiangyan. "We want to know now what will happen with our lives."

In Beichuan, thousands of homeless flooded out of mountains into the city of Mianyang, many put into military trucks and taken to a refugee centre.

"It was really bad up there," farmer Dian Minggui said. "The whole mountain changed shape and all the homes are toppled."

Two schools were among demolished buildings in the township of Xiang'e, northwest of Dujiangyan.

"All the children were buried," said elderly woman Yang Xiaoqu. "The lucky ones were those who cut class."

In Sichuan and neighbouring Chongqing, at least 17 reservoirs have been damaged, with some dams cracked or leaking water. Several are on the Min River, which tumbles through the worst-hit areas between the Tibetan plateau and the Sichuan plain.

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