{"id":19668,"date":"2016-09-04T08:23:28","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T08:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=19668"},"modified":"2016-09-04T08:23:28","modified_gmt":"2016-09-04T08:23:28","slug":"taplejung-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2016\/09\/04\/taplejung-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Taplejung: another burst of fatal landslides in Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"
Taplejung: another burst of fatal landslides in Nepal<\/h5>\n

The last month or so in Nepal has been marked by a lower level of landslide activity than was the case at the start of the monsoon season<\/a>.\u00a0 However, not unusually, heavy rainfall at this later stage has triggered a new burst of landslides in Nepal, with the district of Talejung in the east of the country being particularly badly affected it seems.\u00a0 The Kathmandu Post reports<\/a> seven deaths in the last 48 hours, including three deaths in a single landslide in Taplejung Municipality, a further death in another part of the same area, two deaths in a landslide in Kulung village in Bhojpur and one in Devisthan in Myagdi district.\u00a0 Review Nepal reports<\/a> a further four deaths in Keware in Syangja district early this morning.\u00a0 At the end of last week, Republica reported<\/a> that a child was killed in a landslide at Gajuri in Dhading district, and on Wednesday night seven people were killed<\/a> in a landslide at Chyotchyot, which lies in Lamabagar Village Development Committee in Dolakha district.<\/p>\n

Thus, in the last five days I believe there have been 19 landslide deaths in Nepal.<\/p>\n

The Kathmandu Post has an article<\/a> with images of some of the landslides in the Taplejung area.\u00a0 This includes this photograph, taken by Ananda Gautam, shows a series of very mobile and surprisingly large debris slides on steep slopes:<\/p>\n

\"Taplejung\"

Landslides in Taplejung, via the Kathmandu Post and Ananda Gautam<\/p><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

The article suggests that this is the area called

\"Taplejung\"

Google Earth image of the Dohku area of Taplejung district<\/p><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

It would of course be very interesting to know what is at the head of these landslides higher up the slope.\u00a0 Often such failures start with a comparatively small landslide that then entrains large amounts of soils and regolith.\u00a0 Experience suggests that these small landslides are often associated with road building, poor drainage and \/ or the emplacement of fill.<\/p>\n

Previous article of relevance to this post<\/strong>:-<\/p>\n