Chinese workers, heading off a possible disaster in the northwestern Silk Road city of Zhangye, opened reservoir sluice gates today after earthquakes cracked the embankments, officials said.
Two quakes measuring 6.1 and 5.8 on the Richter scale rocked the province of Gansu on Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring 43, six seriously, the officials said this morning.
The quakes jolted Minle and Shandan counties, near Zhangye, destroying or damaging at least 3,000 houses.
Xinhua news agency said the quakes had destroyed 10,893 "residential rooms" and killed or injured more than 3,000 head of livestock.
"The widest crack is five cm (two inches), an official said, describing the dam embankments. "We were forced to open the sluice gates and let the water go, otherwise people in the city would be in danger."