(May 31, 2008) Read here about the effect of earthquakes on dams… and vice versa.
Measuring earthquakes
(May 31, 2008) The Richter scale provides an objective way of measuring and comparing the size of earthquakes using a mathematical device.
Quake warnings in China went unheeded
(May 30, 2008) Chinese scientists say that even before a final accounting can be made in the earthquake in Sichuan Province, one thing is already painfully evident: The huge death toll in the disaster stems from a failure to heed clear warnings of a devastating earthquake in the area
Three Gorges project unaffected; has the design capability to withstand an earthquake of seismic intensity 7
(May 29, 2008) “The Three Gorges reservoir area – from Honghuabao in Jiangjin City of Chongqing to the dam site downstream – has not been affected and is generally stable,” says Li Yongan, general manager of the Three Gorges Corporation.
China fights quake lakes
(May 29, 2008) About 160,000 people are being relocated and the government may have to evacuate as many as 1.3 million after landslides caused by the May 12 quake blocked rivers, creating 35 lakes, reported Bloomberg. Some of them are threatening to burst their banks.
China considers earthquake danger of dams
(May 28, 2008) With so many of Sichuan’s dams and reservoirs at risk of collapse, this month’s earthquake “may tilt the balance of public opinion in favour of a more cautious and environmentally conscious approach to such development,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
Can’t rule out possibility that dams induced earthquake, says expert
(May 28, 2008) Chief engineer of the Regional Geology Investigation Team of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau argues that the now damaged Zipingpu dam may have induced the May 12 earthquake.
China considers earthquake danger of dams
(May 28, 2008) With so many of Sichuan’s dams and reservoirs at risk of collapse, this month’s earthquake “may tilt the balance of public opinion in favour of a more cautious and environmentally conscious approach to such development,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
Earthquake Information
(May 23, 2008) For updates on the Sichuan earthquake, including information on landslides, dams, aftershocks, regional tectonics, intensity and exposure estimations, see this comprehensive website.
China quake batters energy industry
(May 22, 2008) Deputy Industry Minister Xi Guohua said early this week that companies had suffered $9.5 billion in damage from the earthquake, reports Business Week.
Earthquake Update
(May 21, 2008) Three Gorges Probe has gathered and translated the latest news from the Chinese-language press.
China’s quake: the dam factor
(May 20, 2008) A foreign service correspondent for the San Francicso Chronicle quotes Probe International’s Patricia Adams in a story linking China’s devastating earthquake to speculation that the country’s enormous Three Gorges dam “was a factor in causing the killer Sichuan province quake.”
China earthquakes. More peril: Dam and reservoir collapse
(May 17, 2008) The 7.8 earthquake that shook Sichuan Province in the afternoon of May 12, killing an estimated 50,000, is posing a continuing threat as the untold damage to hydropower stations and reservoir dams upstream on the Min River (the Minjiang) becomes apparent, reports Chinastakes.
China sends experts to assess reservoir damage in quake-hit Sichuan
(May 16, 2008) China’s Ministry of Water Resources on Friday dispatched nine emergency repair teams to Sichuan to assess the conditions of reservoirs after Monday’s massive earthquake, reports Xinhua.
Case Study: Three Gorges Dam
(May 15, 2008) Though the deadly Wenchuan earthquake was the result of tectonic stresses, experts are concerned that the filling of the Three Gorges dam’s enormous reservoir may have induced or exacerbated the earthquake.


