China prepares to dynamite dangerous "quake lake"

By Chris Buckley

MIANZHU, China (Reuters) - China was preparing to dynamite rock, mud and rubble forming a dangerously large "quake lake" on Monday, hoping to avert a new disaster two weeks after a catastrophic tremor struck Sichuan province.

The government put the death toll from the May 12 earthquake at 65,080, an increase of more than 2,400 from a day earlier. The figure is certain to rise as searchers account for the 23,150 missing. A total of 360,058 people were injured.

The Communist Party's decision-making Politburo warned that the situation remained "grim" and relief work arduous for the country's "most destructive" tremor since 1949, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The frenzied initial rescue response is cooling into a long battle with nature, deprivation and latent discontent sure to last long after thousands of aftershocks.

Chinese soldiers carrying 10 kg (22 lb) of dynamite each arrived on Monday at the Tangjiashan lake, one of dozens formed by the earthquake, to try to blast away rubble, Xinhua news agency said, as heavy rain and high winds were forecast.

The lake's barrier was in danger of bursting after the water rose by nearly two meters on Saturday to 723 meters (2,372 feet), only 29 meters below the lowest part of the barrier.

"The lake is now holding more than 128 million cubic meters of water and may cause a devastating flood if the barrier bursts," Xinhua said.

Mianyang, a city near the worst-hit areas, had returned to a kind of normality, with shops open and traders and pedestrians filling streets. But much remained to remind China that absorbing the damage of the quake will take many years.

"MISSING" POSTERS

The city sports stadium was thronged by thousands of the estimated 5 million people displaced by the quake. City roads were busy with troops and supply trucks that will have to support towns and villages for a long time yet.

And the hundreds of "missing" posters plastered on boards at the stadium and on lampposts echo the grief -- and anger over many children killed when their schools crumpled, often even as other buildings nearby stood.

"We don't know how long we'll be here. It already seems like years and years," said Zhu Huajun, a displaced farmer whose 14-year-old daughter lost both legs when her school collapsed.

"As well as all the dead, so many people have also been disabled. If it's a kid how can you be sure that she'll be taken care of properly in a few years, when people forget the quake?"

In a small town outside the city of Mianzhu, families were sheltering beside the remains of a Buddhist temple.

"Our homes were all flattened," said Nan Guizhi, 76. "We needed somewhere to stay and it might as well be this temple so we can guard it."