Eighteen houses collapsed and a tributary was blocked after massive landslides in central China's Hubei Province.

The landslides occurred since Thursday in Muzhuping Village of Taiping Town in Badong County, near the Qingjiang River, after the water level in a reservoir on the river rose to 290 meters, according to Tian Aicui, deputy head of the county.

Qiaohe River, a major tributary of Qingjiang, has been blocked by mud and rocks.

"More than eight million cubic meters of mud and rock have slid. With the stored water in the reservoir rises to about 310 meters, we expected more than 26 million cubic meters of mud-rock flow in the next a few days." said Tian.

No casualties have been reported and all the 658 people in 246 households in the disaster-afflicted area will be evacuated by Monday, said Tian.

The calamities happened in a slope area near the reservoir. Rising water level has loosened foundation at the foot of the slope and directly resulted in the mud-rock flow, according to Huang Xuebin, director of geological disaster relief headquarter in the Three Gorges area.

Local government has set up an emergency taskforce to minimize the impact of the disaster.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2007)