Posted inThe Landslide Blog

Landslides in a changing climate – my forthcoming inaugural lecture

On Wednesday 7 October 2026 at 6 pm I will deliver my NTU inaugural lecture entitled “Landslides in a changing climate”. This is a public lecture, so all are welcome. In UK universities, there is a long tradition of inaugural lectures for newly appointed professors. Wikipedia describes an inaugural lecture as follows:- “An inaugural lecture is a […]

Posted inThe Landslide Blog

Precursory deformation for the 26 August 2026 Nepal landslide disaster

A new paper (Wang et al. 2026) suggests that the bedrock failure that initiated the Nepal landslide disaster may have displayed measurable precursory deformation. Inevitably, one of the key discussion points in the aftermath of the 26 August 2026 Nepal landslide disaster is whether the failure could have been anticipated. Opinions differ, but a key […]

Posted inThe Landslide Blog

How many people died? Why counting disaster fatalities is harder than it looks

Authors: Lakshman Srikanth and David Petley This article was first published on the UNDRR PreventionWeb site. A hazard event occurs. Imagine that the first report says 20 people have died. By the evening, the number is 27. The following day, authorities report 23. A week later, some people initially reported missing are confirmed alive, while others […]