The Zipingpu dam has been left with dangerous cracks as a result of Monday’s deadly earthquake, AP reports. 

 

Over 2000 Chinese soldiers are involved in the repair efforts to prevent a dam collapse that would swamp the nearby city of Duijiangyan, endangering its 600,000 residents.

 

The Zipingpu dam's enormous reservoir has the capacity to hold 1.2 billions cubic metres of water and is among the most modern in China, reports the Times Online, but was built despite warnings it lay close to a major earthquake fault line. 

 

There are also concerns over dams closer to the epicentre, AP reports.

 

"There are already serious problems with the Tulong Reservoir on the Min River. It may collapse," said He Biao, the director of the Aba Disaster Relief headquarters in northern Sichuan province, reports AP. "If that happens, it would affect several power plants below and be extremely dangerous," he said.

 

The Three Gorges dam was unaffected by the quake, Xinhua reported earlier today.

 

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www.timesonline.co.uk