The earthquake that killed 80,000 people, left millions homeless and all but destroyed the Wolong Panda Reserve, could of been caused by the massive dam that was built a few years ago.

The 511ft high Zipingpu dam holds 315 million tonnes of water and lies just 550 yards from the fault line that caused the earthquake and 3 miles away from the epicentre.

Fan Xiao, the chief engineer of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau in Chengdu, said it was "very likely" that the construction and filling of the reservoir in 2004 had led to the disaster.

"There have been many cases in which a water reservoir has triggered an earthquake," said Mr Fan. "This earthquake was very unusual for this area. There have been no seismic activities greater than a magnitude seven quake along this particular seismic belt before."