With the western edge of the Sichuan basin bracing for more heavy rain this month, a senior central government official has warned of the likelihood of more misery for survivors of the deadly earthquake that struck the area two years ago.
Deputy Water Resources Minister Dr Jiao Yong said the magnitude-8 quake, which killed tens of thousands of people, also left behind a geologically ravaged landscape extremely prone to mudslides and other natural disasters that will threaten entire neighbourhoods of survivors for generations to come.
Jiao is the highest-ranking government official to admit openly that many quake victims continue to live with a high risk of natural disaster despite billions of yuan having been spent on reconstruction efforts.
He told the Huaxi Metropolis Daily, based in the provincial capital, Chengdu, that towns such as Qingping and Yingxiu, which were flattened by the quake, would likely face floods and mud and rock slides in the future, and that nowhere in the quake zone was completely safe.
The explanation lay in the area's breathtakingly beautiful landscape, Jiao said. Sitting right on top of the fault where the young Tibetan Plateau grinds against the sturdy Yangtze Plate, the region features deep gorges, lofty cliffs and fast-flowing rivers. Its beauty became a curse when the earthquake struck.
The quake upset the delicate internal balance of many hillsides. When hit by heavy rain, they can now send rocks flying or collapse, blocking natural waterways and causing flooding and mudslides.
