The Xiaojiaqiao landslide dammed the Chaping river, causing the water to back up into a lake. It was the second largest dam formed by a landslide, during the Wenchuan Earthquake. An artificial spillway was blasted and dug through the landslide dam to allow the river to resume its flow. Some photos show the dead tree-line marks the elevation of the maximum level of the water, which was building up behind the dam, before the spillway was dug (Photo taken July 6, by Lynn Highland, U.S. Geological Survey).
The May 12, 2008, Great Sichuan Earthquake, also called the Wenchuan Earthquake occurred at 14:28 local time, in Sichuan Province, China. The earthquake magnitudes were USGS Mw = 7.9, Ms=8.0 (Chinese Earthquake Administration). The epicenter (30.986 degrees N, `03.364 degrees East, was 80 km west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, at a hypocenter depth of 19 km. Statistics list 80,000 + confirmed dead, 374,176 injured, and 18, 3440 listed as missing and presumed dead. Damage by Earthquake-induced landslides was catastrophic and accounted for many of the casualties. At least 256 landslide dams were formed by the landslides blocking rivers, 34 of which were deemed highly dangerous by the Chinese Government. The backed up water behind the landslide dams also resulted in many instances of flooding. Photographs taken in July, 2008, by Lynn Highland, U.S. Geological Survey.