About 140 mm triggered 143 landslides in an area of about 10 km2, killing two people. Loyal readers will have noticed that I’m fascinated by dense clusters of landslides triggered by intense rainfall (or earthquakes). Over the years, I have written about these on multiple occasions, but increasing numbers are being described in the literature. […]
landslides
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The 22 May 1960 earthquake-induced landslides and tsunami at Lake Rupanco in Chile
Reconstruction of landslides on the banks of Lake Rupanco in Chile, triggered by the 22 May 1960 Mw-9.5 earthquake, suggests that a slope failure with a volume of 161 million cubic metres triggered a tsunami with a maximum amplitude of 33.3 metres. About 120 people were killed. A very interesting paper (Quiroga et al. 2025) […]
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The report of the Board of Inquiry into the 14 January 2025 McCrae Landslide
The tribunal has concluded that a major leak in a water main, which released 40 million liters of water, triggered the failure On 14 January 2025, the McCrae landslide occurred on the Mornington Peninsula in Australia. The site is located at [-38.34631, 144.93500]. I posted about this event at the time, noting that local residents had […]
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The 17 December 2024 Takhini River landslide and river-ice tsunami, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
A major slope collapse in frozen sediments in Canada highlights the role of progressive failure. Back in January of this year, I posted fascinating a piece by Derek Cronmiller of the Yukon Geological Survey about the 17 December 2024 Takhini River landslide and river-ice tsunami, which occurred in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The location of this […]
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Fatal landslides in July 2025
In July 2025, I recorded 71 fatal landslides worldwide, with the loss of 214 lives. Each year, July is one of the key months for the occurrence of fatal landslides globally as the Asian monsoon season cranks up to full strength. Thus, it is time to provide an update on fatal landslides that occurred in […]
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A late monsoon sting in the tale in the Himalayas
Very heavy rainfall across Nepal, NE. India and Bhutan has triggered landslides that have killed at least 60 people. Over the last few days, parts of the Himalayas have been hit by very high levels of rainfall, causing large numbers of damaging landslides. The picture is not yet fully clear, but Nepal and Bhutan, and […]
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The evolution of the Matai’an landslide dam
Some excellent before and after imagery is now available showing the evolution of the Matai’an landslide dam. The active GIS/spatial analysis community in Taiwan has produced some fascinating analysis of the Matai’an landslide. Much of this has been posted to Facebook (which is not my favourite platform, but sometimes you have to go where the […]
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The aftermath of the Matai’an landslide and dam breach in Taiwan
Good digital data is now being published that presents the scale of landscape change that occurred as a result of the Matai’an landslide hazard cascade. There is also interesting information about the root causes of the vulnerability of the town of Guangfu, where the fatalities occurred. Some interesting information is now emerging about the Matai’an […]
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The aftermath of the Matai’an landslide in Taiwan
It is likely that the final death toll from the collapse of the Matai’an landslide dam will be 25 people. The dust is literally settling in the aftermath of the breach of the Matai’an landslide dam in Taiwan. The current estimates for the loss are life are 18 fatalities with seven more missing, and a […]
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The tragic 23 September 2025 Matai’an landslide dam breach in Taiwan
At least 15 people are known to have been killed by the debris flow and flood from the landslide dam breach that was triggered by typhoon Ragasa. The extremely intense rainfall brought by super typhoon Ragasa triggered the overtopping of the landslide dam at Matai’an in Taiwan on 23 September 2025. This was not a […]