GUIYANG -- Southwest China's Guizhou Province launched a Level IV emergency response, the lowest in China's four-tier emergency response system, on Thursday, in anticipation of geological disasters resulting from heavy rains that have been sweeping southern China.

Guizhou has taken a series of measures, including thorough investigations into hidden dangers and the implementation of rescue and relief efforts to prevent and deal with disasters such as rockfalls and landslides.

A total of 20 counties, cities and other regions in the province have issued an orange alert, the second highest in the country's warning system, for geological hazards, the provincial department of natural resources said Thursday.

More than 10,000 potential geological hazards have been identified in the province, covering 88 counties, cities and other regions.

Since June, continuous downpours have lashed large parts of southern China, with the waters in many rivers in the affected regions exceeding warning levels.

China's Ministry of Water Resources has called for all-out efforts to prevent floods, and has dispatched teams to the affected areas to facilitate flood prevention and control.