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10 June 2008
Updated: Tangjiashan is failing very rapidly
Latest graph on Tangjiashan flow rates: It is clear that the failure of the dam is now very rapid and is uncontrollable. It is essential that anyone in a vulnerable location downstream is evacuated immediately. It appears that the workers on the dam have been successfully pulled off the site by helicopter, which is a relief. Update: Correspondent Andy is now reporting that cracks have been observed on the dam, …
Tangjiashan flow rate graph
This is a quick, back of the envelope graph of the reported flow rate at Tangjiashan. The dramatic rise in flow rate is clear, but so far this is not catastrophic. The next data point is the key one – can anyone provide it?
Updated: Tangjiashan is breaching
Andy has posted a comment on the blog saying “Latest news: At 7:20am 6/10 (Beijing time), the outflow reached 377 m3/s and lake level was 742.80 m compared with 742.96m 12 hours ago. Before hit the post button, I checked the news one more time. The new outflow number is 500 m3/s! Is it a good or bad news that the outflow increases so fast?” Update: Xinhua has confirmed that …
9 June 2008
Erosion on the lower parts of the Tangjiashan dam
Two days ago I posted this picture AP image of the channel at Tangjiashan: AP image captioned: Water from the Tangjiashan “quake lake” flows down a landslide site in the quake-devastated Mianyang City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. Today, the following Reuters image has been released, apparently showing the same location: Reuters image entitled: Water flows through a sluice channel of the Tangjiashan quake lake in Tangjiashan, Sichuan Province June 8, …
8 June 2008
Updated@ Tangjiashan images deepen the mystery
NB – I have now updated this with an image at the end that shows this more clearly. A quick image search today showed up the following Reuters image, entitled: “Water from the Tangjiashan “quake lake” flows down in quake-hit Mianyang, Sichuan Province June 7, 2008. Chinese troops on Saturday eased pressure on a swelling “quake lake” threatening hundreds of thousands of people, but a smaller lake burst its banks …
An update on Tangjiashan
I thought that this would be a good time to review the situation with Tangjiashan now that water has been flowing for over a day. 1. Water flow is now apparently about 21.5 cumecs – up from 10 cumecs at about the same time yesterday. This is still not enough to balance inflow, so the lake level continues to rise. Of course as the lake level increases the rate of …
7 June 2008
What is going on at Tangjiashan?
First thanks to both Ripen and Hideo Ototake for their emails and images on this issue. I remain somewhat confused about what is going on at Tangjiashan. We know that the sluice now has flow within it – that is not in doubt. But what is happening with that flow is very hard to understand. First, let’s work out the flow rate needed to maintain a constant lake level. The …
Updated: Tangjiashan – flow rate information
Xinhua is now reporting that the discharge in the sluice has now reached 40 cubic metres per second. This means that it is less than half that required to balance inflow at the current rate (c. 100 cubic metres per second). So far at least the channel is apparently stable. The same report indicates that the lake volume is now 229.5 million cubic metres. This is good news. The lake …
Updated: Flow begins through the channel at Tangjiashan
Various media sources are reporting that water began to flow through the channel at Tangjiashan today. For example, Reuters is reporting that:“Chinese troops began easing pressure on a dangerously swollen “quake lake” on Saturday, with water gushing into a man-made sluice in an operation monitored by satellite.” The dam and channel now has to survive two critical phases. The first lies in the next day or two, with increasing volumes …
6 June 2008
Tangjiashan – delayed again
Xinhua is now reporting that the flow through the sluice has now been delayed through the use of a 60 cm high temporary dam (see below). This is an interesting development – I wonder why they have decided to do this at this late stage. Delaying the flow has a risk associated with it as the body of water will be larger, and thus the flood is potentially more damaging. …
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
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