Hundreds of thousands throughout China continue to help the earthquake's rescue efforts, but it's still an uphill battle for relief workers.
Earlier this week relief workers evacuated 80,000 people from their homes, and today another 80,000 were also moved. The new Tangjiashan Lake, the most dangerous of the "Quake Lakes" formed from a mudslide during the 8.0 earthquake May 12.
The lake now holds about 34 billion gallons of water, and officials say it's level rises more than three feet every 24 hours. If the lake bursts, it could have a devastating impact on the village below, which you can see in the video.
While volunteers and rescue workers have been tirelessly trying to drain the lake, and send water back to the river, they won't be able to complete the process until June 5, which might not be fast enough. If the situation doesn't improve, as many as 1.2 million may have to evacuate the city of MIanyang.
In a sense, these evacuees are some of the lucky ones, since they've survived with their lives. The latest figures indicate 67,183 have been confirmed dead, and another 20,790 are still missing. Over 306,000 are injured. Officials expect the death toll to hit at least 80,000.
On the other hand, while the evacuees have survived, they continue to have a difficult path ahead of them. Many are among the over 14 million who are homeless, without another place to go.
Officials estimate that aftershocks following such a large earthquake could continue for a few months, and even though they continue to grow weaker, they can still be destructive.
One friend in Xian sent pictures of his neighbors camping outside in sleeping bags. Even though they're over five hundred miles away from the earthquake's epicenter, they still don't want to take the risk of sleeping in their apartments.
It's hard to imagine the lingering uncertainties of many residents near the quake-hit areas of China and the additional assistance needed. The rebuilding process will challenge Chinese society for months and possibly even years to come.
Even in the midst these images and stories of devastation, there are also many encouraging stories of hope and a promising future.