Villagers fled when a rock and mud cascaded down the side of a mountain following heavy rain in China.

The powerful landslide put seven properties alongside the landslide at risk and also crushed or damaged several others further down the mountain in Nanjiao, Guizhou, on April 30.

Locals started to gather after realising there was likely to be a landslide and evacuated properties at about 10 am in the morning.

The Jianhe County Natural Resources Bureau reported the risk of a dangerous slope collapse on April 29 before it occurred.

Residents were promptly warned to relocate, preventing any human casualties.

The mudslide followed days of torrential rain with local weather services saying that at one point 130 millimetres had fallen in the space of a few hours.