Dam of 'quake lake' hit by aftershock

MIANYANG, China, June 8 (UPI) -- The dam holding back a wall of water of the so-called "quake lake" in China's Sichuan Province was hit by an aftershock Sunday, state-run media says.

China's Xinhua press agency said Tangjiashan Lake, created by the May 12 earthquake that devastated the province, was the site of a 4.8-magnitude aftershock that caused some landslides in the area.

The lake was made during the 8.0-magnitude earthquake when a portion of the Tangjiashan Mountain collapsed and blocked the Tongkou River.

The precarious nature of the lake has caused an evacuation of those living in low-lying areas below it, Xinhua reported. The agency said more than 250,000 people have left their homes in case the lake's banks are breached.

Police and soldiers have been working on a man-made channel to divert water from the lake to avoid emergency flooding.

The State Council Information Office told Xinhua that as of Sunday, the earthquake had killed 69,136 people in China and injured 374,061 more.