28 October 2015
Landslides from the Afghanistan earthquake on Monday
Posted by Dave Petley
Afghanistan earthquake
The M=7.5 Afghanistan earthquake on Monday was deep (the USGS estimates 213 km), meaning that it affected a large area of mountainous terrain. This is a zone that is highly landslide prone in even static conditions, so landslides were an inevitable consequence. In the aftermath a number of videos and images of landslides have appeared in various places.
Videos of landslides from the Afghanistan earthquake
This video shows a comparatively minor but visually dramatic terrace collapse in the Gilgit region of Pakistan:
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This video appears to be a somewhat larger landslide, although I suspect that the nature of the material makes it appear worse than reality. It is certainly a very dramatic video:
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This landslide is reported to have occurred in the Hooper Valley of Pakistan, again in weak materials:
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Images of landslides from the Afghanistan earthquake
Meanwhile, there are also various images of landslides triggered by the earthquake. The ever-wonderful Pamir Times for example has this image of rockfall debris in the Gilgit Baltistan area:
Rockfall debris in Gilgit Baltistan from the Afghanistan earthquake via the Pamir Times
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Whilst landslide losses are a little unclear at the moment, the Pamir Times also reports four people killed in a rockfall on the Karakoram Highway. The level of damage to the road was clearly high, as depicted in this amazing gallery of images:
Landslides on the Karakoram Highway triggered by the Afghanistan earthquake, via the Pamir Times
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The Chief of the National Disaster Management Agency in Pakistan is warning of the potential for further landslides in this area. This is good advice. The Daily Times reports that four members of rescue team were killed, and another 12 injured, in a landslide in the Kalam region of Pakistan yesterday.
It is worth noting that both NW Afghanistan and N Pakistan are hotspots for very large landslides in the uninhabited high mountain regions, many of which are triggered by earthquakes. It will be interesting to see whether any such events have occurred but have as yet not been observed.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
Hi Dr Dave
This was part of my PhD field area in the 1990s.
the second and third landslide videos are of the same place, which is in the main Hunza valley directly south of Karimibad. The Hopper valley joins the Hunza valley at this point from the south, and its valley is directly behind the cliff that is collapsing here. second video in your post is looking south from the karimibad link road shortly east of where it leaves the KKH. the third video (labeled Attabad) is taken from a car heading west on the lower part of the KKH shortly before the hairpins that bring the KKH up under the position of the second video.
Your comment about the material is valid- the material is partially cemented, unconsolidated valley fill, originally glaciogenic but reworked by mass movements during the holocene and since incised by the Hunza river by a couple of hundred meters.
Dr Ben