A new study focused on the 6.8 M Luding earthquake in China’s Sichuan-Yunnan seismic zone, shows how dams make areas susceptible to earthquakes directly (through RIS) and indirectly by altering geological structures, […]
Some say the area’s aging dams are a threat to the region, compounded by the Chinese Communist Party’s centralized response system. Probe International looks at why.
A centralized system that prevents local governments from responding fast during emergencies, and rewards them for relief efforts over efforts to prevent calamity, is a recipe for disaster. Analysts weigh in on […]
A 30 percent loss of output from two massive dams on the upper Yangtze, in combination with a 6.1M earthquake upstream and south-west of the two stricken hydro plants, heightens fears in […]
Two strong and separate earthquakes rattled northwest and southwest China this month – one of them the strongest since the devastating Wenchuan earthquake of 2008. The series of May quakes are part of […]
China’s new Five-Year plan (2021-2025) has given the green light to build dams on the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo, the upper stream of the Brahmaputra River in Tibet before it flows […]
This summer, Dai Qing, the legendary Chinese investigative journalist, Probe International Fellow and one of China’s most iconic environmental voices will join the Penguin Classics canon in a new series on the […]
Since the impoundment of the Three Gorges reservoir began in 2003, tens of thousands of earthquakes have been recorded in the reservoir area. Chinese geologist and environmentalist, Fan Xiao, looks at the […]
Canada’s flag is draped all over the national pride of China.
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan province in southwest China late Monday night, followed by a series of aftershocks measuring over magnitude 5.0 reports China’s official Xinhua news agency. Historical data indicates the event is an unprecedented one for the area.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan province earlier this month, and a devastating 2008 quake in the same province, are likely linked to the region’s dam-building program, says expert.
Mining-related activity accounts for the most frequent cause of human induced seismicity, followed by water reservoir impoundment, according to The Induced Earthquakes Database – a comprehensive global review of all human-induced earthquakes.
China’s dam-building spree on the Tibetan Plateau has given Beijing immense leverage as controller of the region’s “blue gold” and with that power comes responsibility. For starters, to permit an open assessment of the impacts of these projects – particularly given the region’s vulnerability to seismic risk – and to share those findings with neighboring countries and the people most directly affected by dam construction upheaval.
A USD80-million research project at India’s Koyna dam site will study reservoir-triggered earthquakes (aka reservoir-induced seismicity) and the causes behind them. Dam activity at Koyna was blamed for a powerful earthquake in 1967 that destroyed the village of Koynanagar in western India’s Maharashtra state, left 180 people dead, 1,500 injured, thousands homeless and power cut off to Bombay.
Another deadly landslide at a hydropower construction site in Fujian, south-east China, highlights the growing risks of dam building in mountainous regions of Asia. Chinadialogue.net reports.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
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