At least 47 people were buried in a landslide that struck southwest China's Yunnan province on Monday morning, forcing the evacuation of 500 others in the region.

The disaster struck the Liangshui village of Zhaotong city at 5:51 am Beijing time, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Efforts were ongoing to rescue the people trapped under the landslide, official media reported.

Over 500 residents were evacuated from the landslide-hit areas as the provincial commission for disaster reduction activated a Level-III emergency response for disaster relief, state-run CCTV reported.

More than 200 rescuers, along with 33 firefighting vehicles and 10 loading machines, were mobilised to search for the missing.

The buried villagers were from 18 households, rescue officials said.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The cause of the landslide was not immediately known.

Local weather forecast said there will be light snow in the town on Tuesday, with the lowest temperature expected to reach -3 degrees Celsius, the report said.

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