Most readers will be aware that I collate statistics for fatal landslides occurring worldwide. I have now processed the statistics for September, and the results are as follows: Number of landslide events that caused one or more fatalities worldwide: 36Number of people killed by landslides: 377 This compares with the following average number for 2002-2009: Number of landslide events that caused one or more fatalities worldwide: 37.4 Number of people …

On Friday the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) released an atlas of potential natural disasters affecting the countries of that region, which has come out of the PREDECAN project. It presents maps of the distributions of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, flooding, frost and drought, with a special emphasis on El Nino / La Nina. As far as I can tell this atlas is available only …

A quick post today – I thought I’d post a small selection of impressive landslide images that I have come across recently: Ongoing rockslide in India, from here. Landslides resulting from deforestation in Taraza, Antioquia, Colombia, from here. A long runout landslide from Sichuan in China, from here. After effects of a landslide on the island of Ibiza in Spain, from here.

The BBC are running a slightly strange story today about the possibility that the News York area was hit by a tsunami about 2,300 years ago. Given that by far the most likely source of a tsunami is a submarine landslide, this is of some interest. The odd part of this is the timing of the story – I cannot quite work out why it has popped up again now. …

Given the time of year, I thought I would try to put together ten resolutions that could lead to a decrease in the impact of landslides. They are in no particular order and apply at a range of scales. I would welcome any comments. Before building infrastructure, we should always map the slopes to check for potential or actual landslides. This is not a complex or difficult thing to do, …

So here are the scores on the doors for fatal landslides in 2008. First the statistics:Number of fatal landslides: 48Number of fatalities: 396. This is the map of the fatal landslides themselves (click on the map for a better view): As is normal for this time of year the spatial dsitribution is quite scattered, with slides occurring in SE. Asia, S. Asia and C./S. America. This year there has been …

In addition to the two landslide videos from Brazil, I have now come across an even more extraordinary video. This is apparently of a landslide that occurred in Mesitas in Colombia. Whilst the footage of the landslide itself is not as good as some others, the power of the slide as it hits a house is starkly illustrated. Unfortunately I cannot embed this one, so you will need to click …

As I sit in Terminal 5 at Heathrow, enduring an interminable wait for a flight to Newcastle, I have started to reflect upon the International Symposium on Landslides and Engineered Slopes, and upon the state of landslide science in general. First, the conference conveners should be congratulated for a well-organised meeting. The venue (the Shaanxi Guest House in Xian) was quite good, although I was quite glad that we chose …

Here is the map of fatal landslide locations in 2007. Each black dot represents a single fatal landslide. 2007 fatal landslide map.Click on the map for a large version. Copyright Prof. David Petley A number of clusters are clearly evident:1. The Himalayan Arc: this cluster of landslides extends along the whole of the southern edge of the Himalayan Arc and down into Bangladesh. Landslides here occur mostly in the period …

Reported fatal landslides during the last few days include: Malaysia: a landslide in Kampung on 26th December killed four members of a single family Colombia: a landslide on 26th Decemner in Tolima killed three people.