2011-03-03 13:28

LANZHOU - More than 700 people have been evacuated after a landslide hit a mountainous county in Northwest China's Gansu province Wednesday night, local authorities said Thursday.

There is no immediate report of casualties.

The landslide occurred at around 7 pm Wednesday. It has destroyed parts of an out-door plaza in the county seat of Dongxiang, Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture. Electricity supply was temporarily suspended.

A spokesman with the county government said the people were evacuated for safety concerns, as the landslide caused road subsidence in some sections threatening roadside buildings.

A team of experts sent by the local land resources department to investigate the geological disaster have found the losses sliding mass had been loosen by a rupture of an underground waster water pipeline last year. The earth structure became more unstable when snow and ice was thawing in the spring time.