The nature of the landslide disaster in El Salvador caused by Hurricane Ida is now becoming a little clearer. The largest event appears to have happened in the town of Verapaz, where it appears that a debris flow hit and destroyed part of the town. The reported death toll is 16 people, with a further 47 thought to be missing. There are two intriguing aspects to this landslide. The first …

It is becoming clear that Hurricane Ida has wreaked havoc in El Salvador over the last 48 hours, with many landslides. Over 100 people are known to have been killed, with the toll expected to rise over the next few days as more remote areas resume contacts. Intriguingly, the El Salvador news site ElSalvador.com has a report on the disaster here. It reports: “Según los últimos reportes, en Verapaz, en …

Willis is a large insurance and reinsurance broker based in London. A key part of their primary business lies in arranging insurance for catastrophe risk – i.e. losses from mega-events such as an earthquake in Tokyo or San Francisco, a storm surge flood in London or a volcanic eruption near to Mexico City. Calculating the risks associated with these events is a challenging task, but of course the stakes are …

Willis is a large insurance and reinsurance broker based in London. A key part of their primary business lies in arranging insurance for catastrophe risk – i.e. losses from mega-events such as an earthquake in Tokyo or San Francisco, a storm surge flood in London or a volcanic eruption near to Mexico City. Calculating the risks associated with these events is a challenging task, but of course the stakes are …

I thought it would be useful to provide a compilation of images of the landslides triggered by the Sumatra earthquake. ReliefWeb is reporting that over 1000 landslides were triggered: “Landslides have hindered relief efforts in some areas. The West Sumatra Satkorlak reported at least 1,000 landslide spots in Gunung Tigo highlands, located between Padang Pariaman and Agam districts. Six helicopters carrying food and medical supplies were dispatched to the highlands …

The Chi-Chi earthquake struck Taiwan on 21st September 1999. To remember that event, a range of organisations in Taiwan have organised a scientific conference aimed at sharing the lessons learnt from the earthquake. I was lucky enough to be invited to speak on landslides triggered by the event – my paper is tomorrow – but I thought I would also post on some of the most interesting presentations as they …

My Alma Mater, University College London, is this week hosting an interesting colloquium on the theme of “Climate Forcing of Geological and Geomorphological Hazards“. This is a really interesting topic and the organisers should be applauded for attracting some really interesting talks. If it wasn’t for the fact that I am heading out to Asia on Wednesday I would attend for sure. However, the Observer, which is the Sunday version …

A large (Mw = 7.0) earthquake struck offshore Java in Indonesia today at 07:55 UTC (2:55 am local time). USGS has a location map (below) and earthquake parameters, a shake map, etc here. AP is reporting that a large landslide was triggered in Rawa Hideung village, Cianjur district in Java: “Antara reported that 12 families, or about 30 people, were trapped in houses buried by the landslide in Rawa Hideung …

For landslide scientists Taiwan has an almost mythical status, effectively being the nearest thing to a landslide laboratory. To my great benefit I have been able to work on landslides in Taiwan since 1991. As well as being a country of great beauty (there are good reasons why the Portuguese named it Ilha Formasa – Beautiful Island – in 1544), the combination of high rates of tectonic uplift, weak rocks, …

The web site China.org.cn is reporting a major valley blocking landslide on the Dadu River in Sichuan: “A massive landslide in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has killed at least one person and injured 19 others, local officials said Friday morning. The landslide, which occurred at around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in Shunhe Township of Hanyuan County, also blocked a major local river, leaving six local residents stranded, said officials from the …