[1][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The missing were presumed dead as officials ordered locals to stop searching for survivors or bodies to prevent the spread of disease.

[5] Zhugqu County was the worst hit location, where mud submerged houses and tore multi-story blocks of flats to pieces.

[16][17] According to Gyurme Dorje's Tibet Handbook, the forest region of Zhugqu has, since the 1950s, "shrunk by 30% and the reserve of timber reduced by 25% due to overfelling.

[19] The People's Daily has argued that the mudslide was due to a "perfect storm" of natural events, including "soft" "weathered" rock, heavy rainfall, drought, and the Sichuan earthquake two years before.

[26] On 15 August, a day of mourning was observed, with flags lowered to half-mast at government buildings within China and at embassies in foreign countries.