The 2 February 2026 landslide on the Ionian motorway between Arta and Amfilochia
An unusual failure has occurred on a cut slope adjacent to a key road in Greece. On 2 February 2026 a major, fascinating landslide occurred on the A5 Ionian motorway between Arta and Amfilochia in Greece. The location appears to be [39.07754, 21.09861]. The news site ekathimerini has a story providing the details, which includes this extraordinary image of the aftermath of the landslide:- I believe that the Google Earth image below shows the configuration of the site in 2023:- So, this is a large cut slope that appears to have been formed in about 2015 (based on Google Earth…
The 28 January 2026 landslide at the Rubaya coltan mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. Whilst I was skiing in the French Alps last week, there were a couple of significant landslides. The highest profile event was the vast and intriguing landslide at Niscemi in Sicily (located at [37.14176, 14.38524]), which is a failure on a very large scale. The rear scarp is about 1.2 km long, for example. In terms of loss of life, the more consequential event occurred at the Rubaya coltan mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo…
Planet Labs image of the 13 January 2026 landslide at Burutsi village, in the Democratic Republic of Congo
A new satellite image confirms that over 15 houses were buried in a landslide that took the lives of almost 30 people. Back on 15 January, I wrote about the 3 January 2026 landslide at Burutsi village, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This landslide killed 28 people and injured 20 more. This is a remote area, so getting detailed information about the location is very challenging. It is also very cloudy, limiting satellite imagery. However, on 21 January 2028, Planet Labs captured an image of the area using one of their Super Dove instruments. This is the image, draped…
Early news about the 22 January 2026 landslide at Mount Maunganui in New Zealand
Eight people have been killed or are missing in two landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in New Zealand Substantial parts of New Zeealand have been suffering extreme rainfall – yet again – causing floods and landslides. The most serious event to date occurred at a camp site at Mount Maunganui on the Bay of Plenty in…
The underlying causes of the 8 February 2025 Junlian rock avalanche in Sichuan Province, China
A new paper (Jia et al. 2026) has found that the 8 February 2025 Junlian rock avalanche was caused by progressive weakening of the rock mass through wetting and drying cycles. On 8 February 2025, the major Junlian rock avalanche landslide occurred at Jinping Village in Sichuan Province, China. A paper (Jia et al. 2026)…
The mental health impact of landslide disasters
A new study (Akhila et al. 2025) in the the journal Development in Practice examines the mental health impacts of the 30 July 2024 Wayanad landslides in India. In this blog, I generally provide a commentary on recent landslide events and a review of subsequent studies of landslides. I regularly discuss the impacts on the…
Landslides triggered by Typhoon Doksuri in northern China in July 2023
New research indicates that over 100,000 landslides were triggered by a single rainstorm. Back in July 2023, the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri swept across northern China, bringing exceptional rainfall. I briefly covered this at the time, but there was a lack of clear information about the impacts. A technical note has been published in the…
The evolving landslide threat at Farwell Canyon on the Chilcotin River in British Columbia
There are concerns about the potential impact of an incipient landslide at Farwell Canyon on the Chilcotin River in British Columbia, Canada. On 30 July 2024, a large landslide occurred on the Chilcotin River in British Columbia, Canada, blocking the flow. The scale of the landslide was massive – on the BC website about the…
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About Dave
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor and President of Nottingham Trent University 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.