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2 July 2008
June 2008 fatal landslide map
The map below shows the distribution of fatal landslides for June 2008. The statistics are:Number of fatal landslides: 43Number of fatalities: 215 As has been the pattern all year, June was substantially below the average number of fatalities for may in 2003-2007, which is 334 deaths. Interestingly, during June there have been extensive reports of intense and prolonged rainfall events, but this does not seem to have translated into fatal …
21 June 2008
Earthquake triggered landslide at Aratozawa Dam in Kurihara, Miyagi prefecture, Japan
Many thanks to reader Ripendra for alerting me to the following, and indeed for doing nearly all the work for this post. The 14th June 2008 earthquake in Japan is known to have triggered a number of landslides, as per earlier posts, but the most notable appears to have occurred at Aratozawa Dam in Miyagi prefecture. The Aratozawa Dam (Figure 1) is a rockfill dam used for flood control, irrigation …
17 June 2008
Recent landslide round-up
Just a quick post to highlight some of the more notable recent fatal landslides as we move into the Asian rainy season: 07th June 2008: Castle Peak, Hong Kong: A man and woman were killed in Hong Kong on Saturday when severe rainstorms caused a landslide that crushed the hillside hut they were living in (Reuters image below): 07th June 2008: Wangkha, Bhutan: Fourteen Indian labourers working on a hydropower …
16 June 2008
Landslides from the 14th June 2008 "Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake" in Japan
At 08:43:46 local time on Saturday 14th June 2008 a magnitude Mw=6.8 (USGS initial estimate) struck eastern Honshu in Japan. Although this earthquake (now being called the Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake) was not particularly large, it occurred at a shallow depth (10 km) below an area that is quite mountainous. This is an areas that is very landslide prone anyway, being subject to active tectonic processes and frequent typhoon rainfall events. …
Landslides from the 14th June 2008 “Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake” in Japan
At 08:43:46 local time on Saturday 14th June 2008 a magnitude Mw=6.8 (USGS initial estimate) struck eastern Honshu in Japan. Although this earthquake (now being called the Iwate-Miyagi Inland Earthquake) was not particularly large, it occurred at a shallow depth (10 km) below an area that is quite mountainous. This is an areas that is very landslide prone anyway, being subject to active tectonic processes and frequent typhoon rainfall events. …
12 June 2008
Debris flow video from Hong Kong
Thanks to a former student for bringing the following video to my attention. Hopefully it will play directly when you click on the box below – if not then take a look at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2uTKyK1c9k This channelised debris flow occurred on Lantau Island, near to Hong Kong airport, on 7th June when the area was affected by an exceptional (“black”) rainfall event. In a single hour Hong Kong observatory recorded 140 mm …
10 June 2008
Tangjiashan – problem over
Xinhua is now reporting that the flood wave has passed through the city of Mianyang safely. This appears to mark the end of the crisis. I have to say many, many congratulations to the Chinese authorities and everyone involved for their handling of this event. To manage to mitigate this lake in this way is probably an unprecedented achievement.
Tangjiashan – let’s be a little careful here…
I note from comments below that now that the landslide dam at Tangjiashan has failed the disaster is considered to be over. Please let’s be a little careful here. It is true that the flood waves has now passed through the upper parts of the river. Below is the graph of the reported discharges as per the comments left on earlier postings: The water level is clearly dropping. However, the …
Tangjiashan – let's be a little careful here…
I note from comments below that now that the landslide dam at Tangjiashan has failed the disaster is considered to be over. Please let’s be a little careful here. It is true that the flood waves has now passed through the upper parts of the river. Below is the graph of the reported discharges as per the comments left on earlier postings: The water level is clearly dropping. However, the …
Tangjiashan – latest image
This is a new image released by Xinhua of the collapse at Tangjiashan. It is clear that the dam has now effectively failed: The rate of scour is clearly very fast and the lake level is still very high indeed (it has apparently dropped 10 m). CCTV has just reported that the smaller dams downstream have now been overtopped and washed away.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
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