IS A historic disaster about to be repeated? More than 200 years ago, an earthquake in the Chinese province of Sichuan triggered a landslide that dammed the Dadu river. Ten days later, on 10 June 1786, the blockage collapsed under the accumulating weight of the monsoon rains. Some 50 million cubic metres of water rushed down the valley, and more than 100,000 people are believed to have died in the largest “quake lake” disaster on record.
Last month’s magnitude 7.9 earthquake, which is already thought to have killed at least 70,000 people, occurred just 200 kilometres to the north. It too triggered extensive landslides that…
