China left reeling as massive aftershock injures 260 and levels 71,000 homes

A least one person died and 400 were injured in Qingchuan, Sichuan province. Seventy thousand homes were brought down.

Almost all of the houses in the city had already been declared unsafe after the devastating earthquake of May 12.

Survivors look for their belongings in their collapsed house in the town of Chenjiaba in the earthquake-hit Sichuan Province

Residents are living in tents outside Qingchuan amid fears that a mountain landslide could overwhelm the city.

There are also worries about the dangers from lakes formed when the earthquake blocked rivers in the area. With water levels rising, officials want to blow up the landslide barrier across the Jian River at Tangjiashan before it bursts causing a major flood.

Thousands of people living below the lake have been evacuated as a precaution. State media reports that fog has prevented the airlift of personnel and equipment to the lake and that more than 1,500 soldiers were now going by foot. Each is carrying 10kg of explosives.

Homeless: A Chinese man carries his damaged bed from his destroyed home along a railroad tracks to a nearby tented camp in the town of Hanwang

In 1786, the breach of a landslide dam ten days after a major earthquake killed 100,000 in Sichuan. Wen Jiabao, China's premier, says he believes the overall death toll from the 7.9 magnitude quake may exceed 80,000. He listed the main concerns as secondary disasters such as flooding, landslides, epidemics and providing shelter for five million displaced citizens.

The region along the faultline is packed with man-made dams which are also being monitored.

Leaving: Another survivor carries his belongings on his back as he leaves his damaged home in Leigu amid fears of flooding