20 March 2023
Mtauchira: a devastating landslide in Malawi, triggered by Cyclone Freddy
Posted by Dave Petley
Mtauchira: a devastating landslide in Malawi, triggered by Cyclone Freddy
During February and March 2023, Cyclone Freddy tracked across the Indian Ocean, bringing widespread but under-reported destruction to Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. It is estimated that over 800 people have been killed or are missing as a result of the storm, and more than a million people have been directly impacted. As usual, most of the destruction was caused by water, of which landslides were a significant part.
Reuters has a video story about the village of Mtauchira in Malawi, which was devastated by a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall associated with Cyclone Freddy. Yahoo has some text about the landslide too, indicating that it killed 32 people and left a further 18 missing. The video should be visible here:-
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This image, taken from the video, is a stunning illustration of the impact of the failure:-
The landslide at Mtauchira in Malawi, triggered by Cyclone Freddy. Still from a Reuters video posted to Youtube.
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Whilst this is a view from the crown of the landslide:-
A view from the crown of the landslide at Mtauchira in Malawi, triggered by Cyclone Freddy. Still from a Reuters video posted to Youtube.
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This clearly started as a shallow landslide on a steep, deforested slope. The main body of the landslide would be termed in Hong Kong as an open hillslope landslide, taking the form of a debris flow. It is clear that the initial failure has entrained a large volume of colluvium from the slope to create the main landslide. The devastating impact on the houses at the foot of the slope is clear.
At the moment I am unsure as to the location of Mtauchira – it does not seem to appear in the geonames databases that I usually use.
Separately, the Secretary General and CEO, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Jagan Chapagain, tweeted this video of a mudflow in Malawi, also triggered by Cyclone Freddy. The location of this event is not specified, but it illustrates the destructive power of these landslides:-
Tropical Cyclone #Freddy made landfall in Malawi causing widespread devastation.
Reports indicate that the cyclone disrupted lives and livelihoods of too many people.
The IFRC is working with @MalawiRedCross to provide support to those affected. pic.twitter.com/cmuySJpUmp
— Jagan Chapagain (@jagan_chapagain) March 14, 2023
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.
This shallow landlside inducing debris-flow is very similar to the one observed in June 2019 near Chiradzulu (15°40’59.76S – 35°40’27.27 E) triggered during the Cyclone Idai in March 2019 and identified in June 2019 (during the field verification of the landslide inventory carried out during the GEMMAP project). We had observed with the GSD (geolgical survey deprtament of malawi) a large shallow landslide and a run out like a debris-flow. The consequences were a little less tragic; testimonies had mentioned 1 death. I have some pictures if necessary in order to compare.
All the best
Yannick