Early in the morning on June 30, Barkam County in Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan was hit by torrential rain. In the city, street was flooded with water up to the knees. This is the second place in Sichuan to suffer heavy rain, flooding and mudslides since June 22.

Fortunately, thanks to effective early warning and timely handling, the mudslides didn't cause any casualties this time. However, there was still some damage to ancillary infrastructure, such as the walls surrounding the buildings.

Why do mudslides often happen in Tibet-inhabited areas?

In fact, this isn't the first time Tibet-inhabited areas experienced a mudslide disaster.

Mudslides are a disastrous geologicalphenomenon; they are highly destructive due to the way they advance at speed with huge force. One could say that there is hope of survival when buried amongst the ruins of an earthquake, but there is slim to no hope once buried in a mudslide.

China is no stranger to mudslides. According to data from the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2007, China's 23 provinces, cities and autonomous regions have experienced mudslides of varying intensity. There were six mudslide distribution areas, including the mountainous areas of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau edge, Hengduan Mountainous areas, the mountain areas of Sichuan and Yunnan, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and others.

There are more than 10,000 mudslide valleys in China and most of them are located in Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu. Among them, rain is the cause of mudslides in Sichuan and Yunnan and ice and snow is the main cause of mudslides on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Due to distribution and development of mudslides being controlled by geological structure and formation, the intensity and frequency is closely linked to weather and climate. As a result, the complex terrain and diverse weather in Tibet-inhabited areas means that it is haunted by frequent mudslides.

How does one avoid danger during a mudslide?

Some say that it's already too late once a mudslide arrives and the best method is early warning and close monitoring. For the recent mudslide in Barkam, danger was discovered at 1:50 and the mudslide started at 2:20; in those 30 minutes 600 people were safely evacuated, avoiding certain casualties.

Here are a few tips for escaping during a mudslide:

Travel light, but make sure you keep your mobile phone and other communication tools, so you can contact the outside world.

Choose escape routes with dense foliage as trees can block the advancing mudslide.

Avoid the bottom of steep mountain slopes and don't climb trees; choose flat, high ground for safety.

Avoid areas with thicker soil; escape to harder, rocky terrain that can't be washed away by rain easily.