Satellite images have started to reveal the hundreds of shallow landslides and channelised debris flows triggered by a major rainfall event in North Korea at the end of August 2026. Although North Korea is landslide-prone, there is a paucity of information about the impacts and losses that occur there. Interestingly, NK Pro reported last month […]
The Landslide Blog
High resolution Pléiades Satellite imagery of the 26 August 2026 Langtang Lirung landslide in Nepal
Simon Gascoin has posted some high resolution satellite imagery of the source of the dreadful landslide disaster in Nepal. On the CESBIO Multitemp blog, Simon Gascoin has posted high resolution CNES Pléiades satellite imagery of the source area of the 26 August 2026 Langtang Lirung landslide in Nepal. This is the first high resolution imagery […]
Precursory indications of movement for the 26 August 2026 Langtang Lirung landslide in Nepal
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 […]
The 6 August 2025 fatal Dayuan landslide in Guangzhou, China
On 6 August 2025, the Dayuan landslide in Guangzhou, China killed 7 people. It was triggered by rainfall onto an area affected by a wildfire. In recent decades, China has built substantial capacity for investigating landslides. One result of this is that most significant landslides there are now analysed with the results published. This is […]
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 […]
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 […]
The 23 September 2025 landslide dam breach on the Matai’an River in Taiwan
A new paper (He et al. 2026) in the journal Landslides describes the breach of a massive landslide dam in Taiwan, which killed 24 people. On 23 September 2025, a large landslide dam (located at [23.715, 121.299]) on the Matai’an River in Hualien County in Taiwan catastrophically breached, releasing a flood that left 24 people […]
Multiple fatal landslides from Typhoon Dujuan in Japan
In Japan, record breaking rainfall associated with Typhoon Dujuan has triggered at least six fatal landslides in the Kanto region. Over the last 24 hours or so, rainfall associated Typhoon Dujuan has swept across the Kanto Region in Japan, bringing exceptional (and in some cases record breaking) rainfall. There are multiple reports of landslides, some […]
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 […]
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 […]
