1. The Gansu landslide in ChinaThe rescue operations in Gansu have now clearly transitioned into a recovery and rehabilitation phase, greatly hampered by continuing very heavy rainfall in the area.  Landslides are continuing to occur in the area, with resultant casualties. Tom Dijkstra of Loughborough University visited the site as part of a trip to look at collaborative landslide research in the area back in November.  He has kindly sent …

Apologies for the tardiness of this update – it has been a busy day!  First a heads-up, I will write a post to go on the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience blog on these disasters in the context of climate change in the next couple of days.  I will signpost the piece here when it is ready. 1. PakistanThe sheer magnitude of the disaster in Pakistan is difficult to …

As yesterday, this is a brief review of the state of play with the three substantial landslide and flood crises in Asia. 1. PakistanThe flood wave continues to work its way down the Indus, and is now in the Province of Sindh.   As forecast, heavy rainfall exacerbated the situation yesterday, with totals of over 100 mm in some areas of the province. Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa also saw falls of 30 mm …

It is rather difficult to keep up with all the landslides occurring in Asia at present, so for now I’ll provide a brief review of the current situation across the three major areas affected: 1. PakistanThe situation in Pakistan becomes increasingly desperate.  Further heavy rainfall in the mountains in the northwest has meant increased landslide and flood occurrence, and a huge reduction in the aid effort.  The FFD hydrographs in …

Updated at 09:40 UT to provide the correct location. The dreadful effects of the 2010 summer monsoon continue.  Over the next couple of hours I will try to provide an update on all of the events of the last 36 hours, but I’ll start with the overnight landslide in China. Xinhua reports that “At least 96 people have been confirmed dead in landslides triggered by torrential rains in northwest China’s …

The landslide that killed 21 people in China this morning occurred in Hanyaun County (see here and here).  This article, from April this year, may provide some interesting context to the event: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/pubugou-dam-04262010104755.html Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have begun demolishing houses and forcing people from their homes near the Pubugou hydroelectic power project, which is due to go into operation soon. “They are forcibly demolishing houses,” …

The landslide that killed 21 people in China this morning occurred in Hanyaun County (see here and here).  This article, from April this year, may provide some interesting context to the event: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/pubugou-dam-04262010104755.html Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have begun demolishing houses and forcing people from their homes near the Pubugou hydroelectic power project, which is due to go into operation soon. “They are forcibly demolishing houses,” …

Updated: two new images of the site at the end of the post An extraordinary landslide occurred this morning in Hanyuan County, Sichuan Province, leaving 21 people missing and 58 houses damaged or destroyed.  English People’s Daily and Xinhua have some images of the landslide: The slide, which occurred at 5 am this morning, is estimated to have had a volume of 100,000 cubic metres (although I suspect that it …

Although it has received scant attention in the west, China is currently undergoing a classic slow-burn weather disaster associated with exceptional rainfall.  The scale is remarkable – Xinhua reports that since 1st July, 273 people have been killed and 218 people are missing, 3 million people have been displaced from their homes and 58 million people have been affected directly.  Economic losses are estimated to be about US$8.6 billion.  This …

China is suffering dreadfully from landslides this summer, with reports overnight of at least 20 fatalities in  Langao County in Ankang in Shaanxi, and many more killed by landslides in Sichuan and Shaanxi.  However, the CriEnglish website is tonight reporting on a new barrier lake that has formed in Chongqing, forcing the evacuation of 12,000 people.  The slide is reported to have occurred on the Luojiang River in Chengkou County.  The …