Urban construction authorities should be on guard against geological disasters in China's urbanization, said Wang Zhirong, an expert on geological disaster control with the Gansu Provincial Academy of Sciences in northwest China.

Landslides, ground subsidence and cracks in the earth can all be destructive to small, outlying counties and towns, a large number of which are growing rapidly into cities.

"Such disasters might affect every corner of a small town, while in large and medium-sized cities, it's much easier to localize the impact and divert the crowds to safer regions," Wang said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on Monday.

He said some Chinese counties are constantly at risk because they were built in disaster-prone areas without a necessary geological survey to ensure safety. Improper irrigation, excavation and other human activities have even increased such risks, he said.

In 1998, the Gansu science academy conducted a survey of geological disasters in 81 counties and towns in the province. They found that 48, or 59.3 percent, involved landslides.

Incomplete statistics indicate that at least 1,515 deaths occurred in 188 landslides between 1950 and 1998, with direct economic losses totaling 1.3 billion yuan (US$157.1 million).

The hillside township of Lijie in Zhouqu County, for example, suffers two to three disastrous landslides each year that destroy its roads and cut off the villagers from the outside for two to three months.

When the Liujiaxia Reservoir was built in the 1960s, Gansu relocated many farmers to terraced areas along the banks of the Yellow River that are prone to landslides and ground subsidence. Yanguoxia township in Yongjing County reports four to five landslides each year and the situation has been worsening since the 1980s.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2005)