Yesterday, the Indian National Disaster Management Authority held a press conference to announce the publication of a new set of “National Disaster Management Guidelines – Management of Landslides and Snow Avalanches”. At this press conference it was also announced that the Indian Government will set up a National Centre for Landslide Research, Studies and Management, to be located in one of the most landslide-prone states (I would guess that this …

Thanks to both David Hopkins and Ripendra for drawing my attention to a landslide on Friday on the Mahakali River on the border between Nepal and India. Although it has occurred in a remote area, it is interesting because the landslide appears to have partially blocked a fairly large river coming down from the high Himalayas. The landslide occurred in the Chautuldhar (Chetalkot) area of Rephalikot, close to Tawaghat in …

News reports today report a tragedy in Himachal Pradesh when a stampede at a Hindu temple at Naina Devi led to at least 147 people, most of them women and children being crushed to death. A further 37 people were injured. Initial, unconfirmed, reports suggest that the trigger for the stampede was a rumour of a landslide. Thus, for example, MyNews.in reported that: “Additional District Magistrate C P Verma said …

In September 2007 intense monsoon rainfall in the Kalimpong region of Darjeeliing in Northern India triggered large numbers of landslides, killing at least seven people. This has brought to the fore the issue of environmental degradation and the consequent landslides in Himalayan environments. Darjeeling is a microcosm of problems arising throughout the Himalaya, with rapidly increasing numbers of landslides causing major problems. Darjeeling is probably most famous for its tea …

Updated: It appears that May has started with a terrible rockfall in Indian Kashmir (Figure 1). Reports are still rather sketchy, but it seems that the landslide occurred in the Chatroo area Kadiyah,which is about 220 kilometers from Jammu. The rockfall which happened on a road linking Kishtwar and Islamabad, seems to have been caused by blasting. Greater Kashmir online reports:Eyewitnesses said that the incident took place when some of …

News reports from India this evening suggest that there has been a very nasty landslide in Himachal Pradesh. The Indian newspaper The Tribune reports that:“At least six persons were killed and eight injured when a huge rock rolled down from the Nehru Kund hill on the Manali-Rohtang highway, about 5 km from here, this evening. The death toll could be higher as the debris brought down by the slide was …

The online newspaper Mangalorean today carries here some rather dramatic pictures of the aftermath of a landslide in Kavoor, India that buried and killed two labourers. An oversight of the accident is provided in this image from that site: The report says that the accident occurred during the construction of a retaining wall using a JCB. Note in the image that deep red colour of the soils, indicating high levels …

An update on the 19 July 2023 Irshalwadi landslide in India and the 20 July 2023 debris flow at Ungar in Bhutan

In California a major landslide has occurred in Rolling Hills Estates, in Los Angeles County, reportedly damaging 12 houses.

Mtauchira: a devastating landslide in Malawi, triggered by Cyclone Freddy, which has killed an estimated 50 people.