By Lucy Hornby
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) - The onset of the rainy season isswelling dangerous "quake lakes" and compounding thedifficulties of reconstruction after China's worst earthquakein decades.
The 7.9 magnitude tremor of May 12 and thousands ofaftershocks changed the landscape forever, blocking rivers,weakening mountain walls and creating unstable lakes wherethere was once dry land.
Nearly 80,500 people are dead or missing, the governmentsaid on Thursday, as concerns rose that disease, rain andaftershocks could bring yet more disaster to the southwesternprovince of Sichuan.
Premier Wen Jiabao, making his second visit to the disasterzone, overflew a quake lake in Tangjiashan in devastatedBeichuan county, one of 33 formed by landslides blockingrivers. The one in Tangjiashan is one of the three largest.
Wen, himself a geologist, ordered rescue workers toeliminate the danger of the lakes "through engineering means"while swiftly evacuating people in their path.
Last week's tremor changed the landscape of northernSichuan, as mountainsides were obliterated along theLongmenshan fault.
In Hongguang, in northeastern Sichuan, the earthquakecaused both sides of a valley to slide, burying three villagesand 900 people. The Qingzhu River is trapped behind.
"The mountains merged," said Gao Xiao, who barely escaped alandslide that roared past her house.
The Qingzhu landslides have formed five lakes, the biggestof which is almost 30 metres (98 feet) deep. A flood controlteam monitors the natural dams constantly, for fear they willburst and unleash a wall of water on the valley below.
"It's a lucky thing we haven't had a downpour recently,"said Lu Lujun, an official with the Guangyuan county propagandadepartment.
But heavy rain is forecast, making life even more difficultfor rescuers, relief workers and the millions either living intents or under makeshift cover as their mourn their dead.
China's insurance companies are expecting to pay out about300 million yuan (21.8 million pounds) in quake claims, theChina Daily said on Friday.
"As reconstruction work gets under way in Sichuan, thenumber of insurance claims is expected to soar," it quoted WuDingfu, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission,as saying.
Figures from the CIRC show that as of Wednesday, insurancecompanies had paid out 50.4 million yuan in claims -- 42.97million yuan in life insurance claims and 7.47 million yuan inproperty and medical insurance.
"This is the worst year the insurance sector has everfaced, and payouts will be far higher than any on record," Wusaid.
Earlier in the year, insurance firms paid out nearly 5billion yuan on claims triggered by devastating snowstorms.
Sichuan, meanwhile, has been on high alert for rodentdiseases, Xinhua news agency said, with large amounts of baitspread around the ruins.
More than 5,000 health workers have fanned out to disinfectruined villages and doctors and nurses are stationed round theclock in refugee camps to try to prevent survivors from fallingsick.
(Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by John Chalmers)
