Landslides and other geological disasters caused more than two
billion yuan (US$241.6 million) in economic losses in China in
2004, the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR)
said in a recently issued report.
Most of the disasters occurred in the mountainous regions of
central and western China, which were hit by heavy rainfall between
June and September. Chongqing
Municipality alone suffered 308 such events, said the
report.
Yunnan
Province, in the southwest, suffered the highest economic
losses in the nation at more than one billion yuan (US$120.8
million). Chongqing Municipality, also in the southwest, followed
with 420 million yuan (US$50.7 million).
However, total economic losses caused by geological disasters in
2004 were slashed in half from 2003 as a result of the
implementation of the Regulations on the Prevention of Geological
Disasters, which led local governments to step up efforts.
Human casualties resulting from such events also dropped
significantly, said an MLR official. He did not provide specific
numbers.
According to the report, monitoring stations forecast 213 of the
976 disasters, permitting the evacuation of more than 470,000
people.
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2005)