LANDSLIDE STRIKES ZHOUQU COUNTY, CHINA

On August 8, 2010 at approximately midnight, a deadly landslide had disrupted the Zhoqu community. It was caused by heavy rainfall and flooding in the Gansu Province. The landslide was very devastating because after the heavy rain, there was a buildup of water behind a dam of debris blocking a small river to the north of the city of Zhouqu when the dam broke, around 1,800,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks swept through the town, in a surge reported as up to five storeys high, covering more than 300 low-rise homes and burying at least one village entirely. 

The landslide was predicted according to Gyurme Dorje's Tibet Handbook, the forest region of Zhoqu  has, since the 1950s, "shrunk by 30% and the reserve of timber reduced by 25% due to overfilling. The sand in the river water has increased by 60%, and the water volume has reduced by 8%, resulting in increased flooding and drought." Furthermore, there were between 47 and 53 hydroelectric construction projects in recent years, with 41 completed and 12 approaching deadline, according to government data. These together have caused 749,000 tons of water and soil erosion and over 3,000,000 cubic meters of bulldozed material. In 2006, a Lanzhou University report concluded that these projects have made the whole area a volatile danger-zone. These predictions could have warned the Zhoqu community and they would have been able to evacuate before the predicted landslide. 

Landslides have major hazards that may include liquefaction, structural hazards (buildings collapsing), and destruction of utility lines (gas, water, electricity) and roads. 

The restoration of a permanent water supply started in Zhouqu in northwest China's Gansu Province as the rebuilding of the mudslide-battered area picked up, according to Xinhua news agency.

The new system would provide 12,000 tones of water a day, enough for residents in urban areas.

Safe drinking water will be available within five months, according to China First Railway Group, which is organizing the project.

Zhouqu's main water supplies were cut after the mudslides and emergency water containers have been used to provide safe water for the last month.