Examination of Planet Labs satellite imagery before the collapse of the slope suggests that there were surprisingly few signs of incipient failure. The catastrophic landslide – debris flow – flood that swept through Tibet and Nepal on 26 August originated with very large rock slope failure on the flanks of Langtang Lirung, a massif located […]
South Asia
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 27 September 2026 landslide on the Kaligandaki River in Nepal
Videos show a large landslide on the Kaligandaki River at Lete in Mustang. On 27 September 2026, a large landslide occurred on the Kaligandaki River in Nepal. The landslide, which was triggered by heavy rainfall over the last few days, has been widely shared on social media. The Straits Times has posted a version to […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
A late monsoon sting in the tail for Nepal
Heavy rainfall in Nepal since Thursday has triggered 285 landslides, leading to 15 fatalities with a further three people missing and three people injured. Over the weekend, Nepal (and Sikkim in India) suffered a late monsoon rainfall event that has led to multiple landslides, some of which have to fatalities. The Kathmandu Post has a […]
Posted inFeatures
Arctic Sea Ice Loss May Be Reshaping the Asian Monsoon
The connections are still cloudy, but scientists are beginning to reveal ways in which disappearing sea ice may affect the annual monsoon thousands of kilometers away.
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The 7 July 2026 Kalladi landslide in Kerala, India
A major landslide triggered by monsoon rainfall killed eight people this week. The failure occurred at the site of works for a new road tunnel – there is speculation that poor handling of excavated materials may have been the cause. Imagery suggests that the event might have been slightly more complex, though. On 7 July […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Fatal landslides at the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh
Early in the morning of 6 July 2026, three fatal landslides killed eight people in the refugee camps housing the displaced Rohingya people in Bangladesh. There have long been fears of the potential for fatal landslides in the refugee camps Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh that house the Rohingya people who were ethnically cleansed from Myanmar. […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
A valley-blocking landslide in Lower Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India
A large landslide in India, triggered by monsoon rainfall, was captured on a remarkable video. On Monday 29 June 2026, a valley-blocking landsldie occurred on the Siji River in Lower Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India. I have yet to track down the precise location of this event, but it is in the region of [27.7146, […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
The prospects for the 2026 monsoon in South Asia
Forecasts for the 2026 South Asia monsoon are for below average rainfall, but some of the most landslide prone areas of India may receive totals that are above average. As usual, we are now starting to see the number of reported global fatal landslides increase as the northern hemisphere rainy season commences. In recent days, […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
On the economic benefits of rural roads in Nepal
A new paper (Adhikari et al. 2026) in the journal Asian Development Review shows that earthen roads in the hilly areas of Nepal generate limited economic benefits but carry a high landslide cost. Loyal readers of this blog will have seen many posts that cover the problematic landslide history of low technology rural roads in […]
Posted inThe Landslide Blog
Fatal landslides in Nepal since 1968
Since 1968, there have been over 1,400 fatal landslides in Nepal, killing over 6,000 people. I’m currently writing a paper on the patterns of fatal landslides in Nepal since 1968. This is an update on the paper we wrote almost 20 years ago (Petley et al. 2007) that examined the changing patterns of landslides there. […]