(February 8, 2010) Following the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China, Chen Houqun, Xu Zeping and Li Ming discuss the question of whether large reservoirs can trigger strong earthquakes.
Quake readiness, turning the clock back to 2005
(May 27, 2009) Probe International provides a translation of Qian Gang’s examination of the Chinese government’s existing policies concerning quake readiness and disaster prevention. His story appeared just prior to the one-year anniversary of last year’s deadly Wenchuan earthquake.
China’s quake readiness: looking back to 2005
(May 11, 2009) The Chinese government is facing more criticism concerning its earthquake safety plans. A recent article in the Southern Weekend by Qian Gang asks if officials have turned any of their earthquake safety plans–dating back to 2005–into action.
Probe corrects Mother Jones
(February 11, 2009) Probe International has called for an investigation into the role of the Three Gorges dam in the Chinese earthquake. Incorrect reporting had Probe claiming that the Three Gorges dam was responsible for the devastating earthquake
Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China
(2008) Large reservoirs can cause seismic events as they fill and as the pressure on local faults increases. Such reservoir-induced seismicity was predicted for the Three Gorges region, which is already seismically active and indeed, there has been an increase in reported seismic activity in the region following construction of the dam and the filling of the reservoir.
Scientists build case that Zipingpu dam triggered China’s devastating earthquake
(January 28, 2009) Since China’s deadly May 12 earthquake, Fan Xiao, China’s chief engineer of the Regional Geology Investigation Team of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau, has been a lone voice calling for an investigation into the possibility that the Zipingpu dam reservoir, just a few kilometers from the epicenter, might have induced the earthquake.
Water brief: Three Gorges Dam
(January 1, 2009) In The World’s Water 2008-2009, the Pacific Institute’s Dr. Gleick examines the usual anticipated benefits of the Three Gorges Dam: power, navigation and flood control and the growing list of problems — serious impacts on fisheries, coastal erosion due to vastly lower sediment flow in the Yangtze, landslides, earthquakes and social unrest due to the displacement of millions of people.
FEATURE: What price the Three Gorges project?
(September 18, 2008) By the end of this year China’s Three Gorges Corporation plans to raise its reservoir to a final height of 175 metres despite experts’ warnings that higher water levels are likely to accelerate sedimentation and render the port of Chongqing useless within the first 10 years of operation.
New geomorphological index created for studying active tectonics of mountains
(June 3, 2008) To build a hospital, nuclear power station or a large dam you need to know the possible earthquake risks of the terrain. Now, researchers from the Universities of Granada and Jaen, alongside scientists from the University of California, have developed, based on relief data from the southern edge of the Sierra Nevada, a geomorphological index that analyses land form in relation to active tectonics, applicable to any mountain chain on the planet.
Major flooding risk could span decades after Chinese earthquake
(September 7, 2008) Up to 20 million people, thousands of whom are already displaced from their homes following the devastating Chinese earthquake, are at increased risk from flooding and major power shortages in the massive Sichuan Basin over the next few decades and possibly centuries.
Quake survivors now face threat of flooding from damaged dams
(September 4, 2008) An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 hit Sichaun province last Saturday, killing at least 38 people and displacing 1.09 million, reports the South China Morning Post.
Landslide hits town near China’s Three Gorges dam
(April 20, 2008) Emergency workers are still trying to rescue almost 200 people from a village that was nearly inundated by a massive landslide near the Three Gorges dam in central China on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reports.
Chinese experts appeal to authorities to suspend big dam projects in southwest China following Sichuan’s deadly earthquake
(June 19, 2008) Experts in geology, water conservancy, and environmental protection have jointly appealed to authorities in Beijing to temporarily suspend the approval of big hydro dams in geologically unstable areas in southwest China.
Tremors in China’s road to recovery
(June 11, 2008) While earthquake damage sustained by the country’s dams may pose serious threats, many are turning to the dams themselves for explanations. Probe International Fellow Dai Qing says: “We must look carefully at the questions: How do dams impact earthquakes? How do earthquakes impact dams?”
Graft fears as China turns to quake reconstruction
(June 11, 2008) China has insisted it will not allow corruption to infect its huge earthquake reconstruction effort, but one month after the disaster not everyone is convinced reality will match the pledge.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
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