A few updates on landslide events over the last few days:1. Highway 97: various newspapers now report that the teams trying to stop the movement of the slope are making headway. The rate of movement has now slowed to about 8 mm per day (half of the rates measured early in the crisis). The drilling and blasting crews have now moved 5,000 cubic metres per day from the crown to …

On a day when a different type of landslide is dominating the news (a happy end to the possibility of four more years of an anti-science administration in the White House), reports continue to come in about the disastrous landslides in Yunnan Province in China on Sunday. Usually it is very difficult to get an estimate of the real costs of landslides, but Xinhua has provided an unusual level of …

In China this summer there have been two big mining-related flowslides. The second, at Linfen County in Shanxi Province attracted a great deal of publicity (see my blog reports here and here), not least because of the very high death toll. However, the story of the first, which happened on 1st August at Lifan, also in Shanxi Province, is a great deal more murky, but details are now emerging. On …

For the first time in recorded history the monthly fatal landslide map is actually on time! Below is the map for September 2008. First the statistics:Number of recorded fatal landslides: 59Number of recorded fatalities: 1290 September has been a quite bizarre month, with fatal landslides occurring at a level that is much higher than expected. As such this continues the trend for August, which was also above average, but it …

The China Daily has today published an article that describes the situation around Beichuan as a result of the current heavy rains. The article is here. The situation is sounding increasingly dangerous. For example: “As a result of heavy rains and incessant mudslides, the plan to rebuild quake-devastated Beichuan county in northern Sichuan province as an earthquake museum has been put on hold, a local official said.” “A large part …

Reliefweb is this morning carrying a story highlighting grave concerns about the situation in Sichuan in view of recent weather. The article is here. This article appears to have originated from the Jinde charity, who are active in the earthquake affected areas. In a nutshell they are reporting that: Sichuan Province is suffering the most severe rainstorms for a century. They report that since 21st September the city of Jiangyou …

The search for victims in both the Manshiyet Nasser rockslide and Shanxi flowslide continues. The following is the latest news:Manshiyet Nasser, CairoThe number of recovered victims is now 107, with many more still believed to be trapped under the rubble. Clearly there are still extraordinary difficulties in getting beneath the large blocks. Interestingly, there is now a Quickbird image of the site, as highlighted by Almasry Alyoum. Below I have …

Occasionally I like to take a look back at a significant landslide. Today I thought I’d write about the amazing Yigong rock avalanche in Tibet. The location of the landslide is shown on Figure 1: it’s location is 30°14′ N, 94°59′ E, located high on the Tibetan Plateau. Figure 1: Google Earth image showing the location of the Yigong landslide. Click on the image for a better view. The landslide …

Tangjiashan was the most serious of the “quake lakes” (valley-blocking landslides) generated by the Wenchuan earthquake. Back in June I followed the remarkable exercise undertaken by the Chinese authorities to mitigate the problem by draining the lake. Once the lake was drained the concern was what would happen in the wet season. Today, China.org.cn is reporting that new problems have developed: Two people were dead and 30 were missing amid …

Xinhua is today reporting that: “The State Council, China’s Cabinet, has sent a team to investigate the landslide that buried dozens of people in the northern Shanxi Province, but was initially played down by local authorities. The landslide toppled a waste dump of a local iron mine and buried Sigou Village in Loufan County in the suburbs of the provincial capital Taiyuan on Aug. 1.” The landslide was reported to …