The number of dangerous geological events in China surged in the
first nine months of this year, said the Ministry of Land and
Resources on Wednesday.
From January to September, a total of 95,454 geological events
occurred in China, four and half times more than the same period of
2005, the ministry said.
Vice Minister Yun Xiaosu told a meeting here on Wednesday
marking International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction that 586
people were killed by geological disasters in the first nine months
of the year and 105 others are still missing.
Yun said the number of casualties caused by geological disasters
increased by 14.4 percent year on year, compared with
January-September of 2005, without elaborating on the exact
figures.
The ministry attributed the sharp increase of such disasters to
the several typhoons that swept China this year causing mud slides
and rock falls.
The minister warned that China faces a tough task in the
prevention and control of geological disasters as more than 6
million square meters of land, or 65 percent of the country's
total, belongs to areas prone to landslides and surface
subsidence.
Geological disasters also threaten the safety of key state
infrastructures, cities and towns and the lives of the people, he
said.
The lives of more than 35 million people are threatened by
229,200 potential geological disasters in the country, which may
cause property losses of over 1 trillion yuan, said the
official.
(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2006)