In a late Friday directive, President Xi Jinping ordered search and rescue operations to be carried out for the missing and called for an investigation into the cause of the landslide.
Preliminary verification indicated that a Pengshui county community worker spotted scattered falling rocks about 8am on Friday and issued an emergency warning.
Authorities ordered more than 60 residents to leave the area but the landslide occurred during the evacuation at 9.08am.
The landslide has caused multiple residential buildings downhill to collapse, prompting officials to urge more than 1000 nearby residents to leave.
As of Friday afternoon, 10 people had been injured, including two who were seriously injured and two in critical condition, local government told the press briefing.
Ten people who had been buried by the landslide had so far been rescued and were out of danger, state television reported.
Aerial footage from CCTV showed rock and debris falling on a cluster of riverside residential buildings, while people could be seen fleeing with a thick plume of dust billowing behind them.
It was not immediately clear what caused the landslide.
A dashcam video posted on X, verified by Reuters, showed a section of hillside collapsing onto homes and businesses below, sending debris across the road and forcing passing cars and a motorcycle to stop.
China's Ministry of Emergency Management activated a level-two emergency response and dispatched a 100-member rescue team to the scene, the ministry said in a statement.
It added that 206 personnel and 49 vehicles from China's fire and rescue force were sent to the site to assist in rescue efforts.
with DPA
