国内英语新闻:China working to prevent secondary disasters in quake-hit region

In the hardest-hit Gyegu Township where 85 percent of the buildings collapsed, potential secondary disasters in 10 areas posed threats to the safety of 1,924 residents, Wang said citing an initial survey.

Lu Baoliang, a senior engineer at the provincial geology and environment monitoring station, said they were sending experts to check potential secondary disasters in 57 villages.

Yu Congle, director of the provincial water resources bureau, is increasingly worried about the coming rainy season as Gyegu Township is at the intersection of two rivers.

Gyegu is often plagued by flash floods in normal years. In addition, the earthquake has damaged river dikes and blocked seven out of eight flood discharge tunnels.

"Many survivors and rescuers living in tents beside rivers will face threats from flooding," Yu said. "But we will never let the quake-hit region be wrecked by flooding."

The local water resources authorities are reinforcing the river dikes and unplugging the flood discharge tunnels, Yu said.