CHENGDU, China - One of the most powerful aftershocks to hit quake-ravaged central China leveled many more homes and killed a person, leaving dozens more injured Sunday, as soldiers carrying explosives hiked to a blocked-off river to alleviate the threat of floods.<br />
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Some 260 people were injured in the aftershock Sunday afternoon, the government-run China News Service said, with 24 in serious condition. The agency said many homes had collapsed and roads were damaged, but gave no specific figures.<br />
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The magnitude 5.8 aftershock was among the most powerful recorded since the initial May 12 quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The China National Seismic Network, which uses a different measurement system, said the aftershock was the strongest of dozens.<br />
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The aftershock caused office towers to sway in Beijing, 800 miles away.<br />
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Earlier Sunday, the Cabinet said the confirmed death toll from the quake rose to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing. Premier Wen Jiabao has said the number of dead could surpass 80,000.<br />
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Millions have been left homeless, some now at risk of being inundated by floods from new lakes that have been formed by rivers blocked by landslides unleashed by the quake.<br />
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North of the epicenter, 1,600 soldiers and police were hiking to a blocked river outside Beichuan, each carrying 22 pounds to blast through the debris to prevent floods, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.<br />
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Bad weather meant they could not use helicopters to get to the lake.<br />
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The State Meteorological Bureau said Sunday that parts of Sichuan would suffer "heavy and even in some areas torrential rains" later Sunday and Monday, warning of possible mudslides.<br />
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About 20,000 people had been evacuated in the disaster area due to risks of floods, and the total who need to be relocated could rise to 100,000, Li Ning, chief engineer at the Ministry of Water Resources, told reporters in Beijing.<br />
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The ministry also said Sunday that 69 dams in Sichuan were in danger of collapse due to quake-related damage. It did not give further details.<br />
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The government had earlier said the quake affected 391 dams, mostly small structures. Authorities have said the world's largest water project - the Three Gorges dam, located about 350 miles (560 kilometers) east of the epicenter - was not damaged.<br />
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State television reported Sunday that a survivor trapped by the initial quake was rescued alive Friday, more than 11 days after the disaster.<br />
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Xiao Zhihu, an 80-year-old bedridden man, was found in Mianzhu north of Chengdu after being trapped in his collapsed house, the report said. He survived because his wife was able to get food to him through the rubble, but there were no further details given or a reason for the two-day delay in reporting the rescue.<br />
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Some people paused Sunday to attend church almost two weeks after the quake hit. In Chengdu, worshippers gathered at the Ping'an Bridge Catholic church to say prayers for the victims.<br />
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A collection plate was passed around, and people gave everything from the equivalent of a few cents to 100 renminbi ($15) notes.<br />
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One worshipper, 58-year-old retiree Liang Biqing, said the disaster had changed her views on China's place in the world and shown her that people globally all share the same troubles.<br />
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"This shows that there are no barriers, no nationalities, when it comes to disasters," she said.<br />
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Panda keepers at the Wolong Nature Reserve, a major breeding center for the endangered animals near the epicenter, said Sunday they had averted a food crisis. Fresh bamboo was being trucked in for the pandas, center official Zhou Xiaoping told Xinhua.<br />
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"The road conditions are very bad and transportation takes much longer than normal. But thank goodness, the worst food crisis is almost over," Zhou said.<br />
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Two pandas were still unaccounted for after the quake.<br />
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