Shimla: a landslide caught on video from multiple angles

The prolonged, late monsoon heavy rainfall across South Asia is attracting some attention now, although the media coverage remains shamefully thin. The reasons for this go way beyond the remit of this blog of course, and are extensively discussed elsewhere.  Meanwhile the rainfall continues, and inevitably landslides are a consequence in this environment. On Saturday afternoon a significant landslide occurred at Dhalli in Shimla, burying several vehicles but fortunately causing no loss of life.  This landslide was captured on video from several angles.  The explanation appears to be that precursory rockfall activity started about 20 minutes before the main failure event, allowing the road to be closed and, presumably, bystanders to start the cameras on their phones.

This shot captures the event from a distance:-

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Whilst this one captures it from a similar angle, but with a higher level of resolution:

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And this video captures the landslide from the side:-

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Together these videos provide a remarkable understanding of how the failure developed and progressed.  Failure appears to initiate with a buckling process at the front of the landslide, which allowed material upslope to slide.   Whoever owned the white car at the toe of the slope had a lucky escape.  The three properties, including the partially constructed building at the toe of the slope, could also have had a more serious outcome, although the one alongside the road was seriously damaged.  This image from NDTV shows the aftermath of the landslide in Shimla:

The aftermath of the landslide in Shimla. Image from NDTV.

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This is of course not the first landslide in Shimla.  An interesting aspect is this image of the slope immediately before the failure event:

A still from a Youtube video showing the landslide at Shimla.

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There can be little doubt that excavation of the slope has occurred at this site.  As I have noted previously, poor quality road construction is a major cause of landslides across South Asia.