The Ministry of Land and Resources yesterday called on people to be vigilant as the continued heavy rain in much of China could cause more geological disasters.

Concentrated heavy rainfall is the factor most to blame for triggering off many geological disasters this year such as rock-mud flows and landslides, said Jiang Jianjun, director of the ministry's Geological Environment Department.

Jiang said more than 300 people have been killed in around 500 geological disasters so far this year, mainly since April.

The disasters have taken place over wide areas of China. Among the most seriously affected parts are Southwest China's Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Gansu Province, Central China's Hubei Province and South China's Guangdong Province.

"So far, the direct economic loss from geological disasters has amounted to about 150 million yuan (US$18.1 million),'' said Jiang.

However, heavy rainfall is not the only factor to blame.

Unauthorized engineering projects in areas prone to geological disasters can also be a cause. This was the case in Huizhou, Guizhou Province, where 35 workers were buried one night in May by a sudden landslide at the construction site of a road extending through the high mountains.

Most of this year's geological disasters have taken place in mountainous regions, said Jiang.

In such areas, the improper choice of sites to deposit mineral waste or to build houses can also lead to an avoidable loss of life or property.

"Geological disasters cannot be completely stopped because some of them are basically natural phenomena rooted in the evolution of the Earth. But there are lots of losses that can be avoided with sufficient caution,'' Jiang said.

In June, the ministry began a joint project with the Central Meteorological Observatory to forecast geological disasters. This is the first of its kind in the world, according to Jiang.

"A total of 14 geological disasters were monitored and forecast, while over 2,000 people were spared from death or injury,'' he said.

Xinhua contributed to this story

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