A pre-dawn earthquake and heavy rain reportedly caused the landslide which occurred Wednesday morning at a phosphorite mine in Mianzhu, southwest China's Sichuan province.
Twelve workers employed by two phosphorite mining teams were reported missing in the landslide, when 200,000 cubic meters of mud and rocks hit their residential quarters, according to latest information from the mine.
Local seismological and meteorological stations reported an earthquake measuring 2.2 on the Richter scale at 3:55 am Wednesday. The area has also been hit by continuous rainstorms over the past few days.
The local seismological monitoring system also reported that the area has experienced an average of over 100 minor earthquakes each month since August.
Officials from the provincial government and Mianzhu and Deyang cities rushed to the scene for rescue operations. The mine is 40 km northeast of Mianzhu.
(Xinhua 10/12/2000)
