1 December 2011

Landslide in Indonesia: seven dead, many more reported missing

Posted by Dave Petley

Thanks to Alexandre Mathieu for the heads up on this landslide.  A failure occurred yesterday on the island of Nias off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The landslide occurred as a result of heavy rainfall in Moze village in the south of the island.  It is thought that 37 houses were buried.

To date seven bodies have been recovered, with estimates that up to a further 30 people may be missing.  The image below (source) suggests that the landslide may have been an earthflow of some type.

 

http://www.brecorder.com/world/southeast-asia/37187-five-dead-30-missing-in-indonesia-landslide-.html

 

A rather less clear image has also been posted on this website, and suggests a quite long runout flow from a residual soil slope:

http://www.dayandnightnews.com/2011/12/four-dead-30-missing-in-indonesia-landslide/