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 […]
South Asia
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. […]
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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, […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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The exceptional occurrence of landslides in the 2025 South Asia summer monsoon
In NW India, rainfall in the 2025 monsoon was 27% above the long term average. Over 2,500 people were killed in India and Pakistan by landslides and floods as a result. In India and Pakistan, the 2025 summer monsoon generated unusual amount of landslide activity. I described some of these events along the way, most […]
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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 […]