I thought it would be useful to summarise the key issues / threats associated with landslides in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake that I can see at the moment: Delayed landslides from the main earthquake: there is some evidence that there can be a substantial delay between the earthquake and occurrence of large-scale landslides. This is because: i) in some cases pore pressures in slopes take some days to …

Reports and images are now emerging of the complete burial of three villages, Donghekou, Ciban and Kangle, located on the Qingzhu river in Sichuan Provinc as a result of (separate) landslides in the Sichuan Earthquake. In particular, images are now available of Doghekou, which is one of the landslides that has blocked the river upstream of Beichuan. These three landslides have together entombed an estimated 300 families, which would indicate …

Now that there is a brief weather window, satellite imagery is starting to emerge of the Sichuan Earthquake zone. At present most of these images are too low resolution to allow detection of the real damage to the buildings (which is notoriously difficult to achieve), but they are excellent for looking at landslides. The best to date that I have seen has come from the Taiwanese Formosat-2 instrument, which is …

Some information is now becoming available about the impact of landslides in Beichuan. I have blogged before about this. However, a report in the Chinese Economic Observer online is now beginning to highlight just how bad the problem actually has been. This report states the following: In fact, landslides triggered by the May 12 earthquake had exacerbated the destruction in Beichuan. Take Maoba Middle School for instance, all traces of …

I am starting a second thread here to document landslides reported in the Sichuan earthquake. Background information about landslides and the earthquake is provided in the post below. I will update this list as new information becomes available. I would really welcome any information that can be provided – please email me ( [email protected] ) or post a comment. General observation: as feared, landslides have taken a terrible toll in …

I thought a thread showing some news images of landslides triggered by the Sichuan earthquake would be useful. The first image shows vividly the likely impact of landslides in this area. AP photo entitled “Buildings are destroyed by landslides following Monday’s powerful magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Beichuan in Mianyang city in southwest China’s Sichuan Province Tuesday, May 13, 2008. A signboard atop the building at left reads: Beichuan Hotel” Xinhua …

12th May @ 07:27 UT: News reports this morning are suggesting that there has been a large, shallow earthquake in Sichuan Province, China. Initial estimates from the USGS are that this was a M = 7.5 (NB this has now been corrected to MW=7.9) event located at just 10 km, although clearly this will need updating. If so, it is reasonable to assume that this earthquake will have triggered large …

There is news emerging this morning of a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in New Zealand today. The earthquake was situated just offshore the east coast of North Island. It is clear that the town of Gisborne has suffered some damage, though at least initially casualties appear to be light. An earthquake of this magnitude is sufficiently strong to cause landslides, and New Zealand is a landslide-prone terrain, so it will be …

A great video has emerged of a boulder that crashed into a house in the Palolo Valley in Hawaii on Sunday 29 January 2023

At least 20 people were killed by a mudslide at Kusiong village in the Philippines on Thursday, triggered by Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae. The local people had been drilled to prepare for a storm surge, so sheltered upslope, where they were killed by a mudslide.