Guide Note

On May 14, 2008, thousands of Chinese troops were sent to try and seal up cracks in the Zipingku Dam north of the city of Dujiangyan - an area near the epicenter of a massive earthquake. Officials fear if the 2000-year-old dam breaks, the entire city and its nearly 600,000 residents would be swamped.

The troops were moving in even as rescue workers continued to frantically search through the rubble of devastated areas of the city, located in the Sichuan Province of southwest China. The death toll was expected to rise almost hourly.

Fast Facts

1. Dam located about three miles from city of Dujiangyan
2. Numerous cracks need to be plugged up
3. If dam breaks, the nearby city could be flooded quickly
4. Area at epicenter of 7.9 magnitude quake on May 12, 2008
5. Chinese government says nearly 400 dams damaged in quake

As rescue workers continued to try and locate survivors of the powerful earthquake, the death toll continued to rise. Reports said nearly 15,000 people were killed, with 14,000 missing.