New evidence from the Natural Hazards Commission – Toka Tū Ake (NHC) shows that landslides are now New Zealand’s most costly natural hazard. New Zealand is a country that is prone to a range of natural hazards. Located on a series of major fault systems, earthquakes cause high levels of loss. The country is also […]
Hazards & Disasters
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Seismic Attenuation Techniques Reveal What Lies Beneath Taiwan
A new imaging modality explores the complex subduction‐collision transition zone below southern Taiwan.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Fatal landslides in April 2026
In April 2026 I recorded 36 fatal landslides causing 90 fatalities, the lowest monthly total for 2026 to date. This is my regular update for the number of fatal global landslides, focusing on March 2026. As usual, this data has been collected in line with the methodology described in Froude and Petley (2018) and in Petley (2012). References […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 10 August 2025 landslide and tsunami at Tracy Arm fjord in Alaska
A wonderful new paper on the huge Tracy Arm landslide and tsunami will have profound but challenging implications for the management of risk in an age of increased tourism and rapid climate change. The journal Science has published an excellent new paper (Shugar et al. 2026) that examines the extraordinary 10 August 2025 landslide and […]
Posted inNews
The Forensics of a Skyscraper-Sized Tsunami
A landslide in Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska created the second-largest tsunami on record. A new analysis links this abrupt event to the retreat of a glacier and, ultimately, to climate change.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Let’s Not Forget About Long Droughts
Why do conceptual hydrologic models struggle to model long-term droughts? A new study investigates.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Can Any Single Satellite Keep Up with the World’s Floods?
How well does our current satellite fleet capture the world’s major floods? Scientists turn to the Dartmouth Flood Observatory record for a data-driven answer.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 9 April 2026 landslide at Lamarain in Papua New Guinea
Ten people were killed in a large landslide in Papua New Guinea triggered by heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Maila. On 9 April 2026, a large landslide occurred at Lamarain in the Inland Baining LLG of Gazelle District in Papua New Guinea. The landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall associated with the passage of […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
On the growth of research in landslides
Since 1994 there has been a 32 times increase in the number of research outputs with the keyword “landslide”. In a couple of weeks time, I have the pleasure of being one of the invited speakers at the Landslide Risk and Geoengineering (LaRGE) Conference in Queenstown, New Zealand. Ahead of that presentation, I’ve been using […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Landslides in Art Part 36: The Great Landslide of 1664 of Runswick Bay on The day Village That Slipped into the Sea by “Jotter”
The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides. I’ve not posted about Landslides in Art much in recent years – the most recent edition was almost two years ago – but loyal readers will know that this is a long […]