The 19 June 2025 landslide at the Rubaya mining site in the Democratic Republic of Congo
A major slope failure killed many people, possibly over 300, in an area of unlicenced mining of the mineral Coltan. On 19 June 2025, a very significant landslide occurred at the Rubaya mining site in Masisi territory, North Kivu, which is located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The landslide, which reportedly affected a place called Bibatama, killed at least 21 people, but in all probability many more people died. Local news site Mines.cd reports over 300 fatalities. The Rubaya mining area is a large, unlicenced and unregulated shallow excavation for the extraction of…
Landslides during periods of glacial retreat in Alaska
An excellent new paper (Walden et al. 2025) examines the occurrence of accelerated movement in rock slope landslides in Alaska as adjacent glaciers melt. The exceptional temperatures in recent days in both North America and Europe has once again highlighted the rate at which the climate is changing in response to anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases. In most glaciated areas, retreat of the large ice masses is occurring. There has long been discussion of how the slopes adjacent to glaciers will respond to these changes. There is a very good new open access paper (Walden et al. 2025) in the…
The 24 June 2025 landslide at Granizal near to Medellín, Colombia
A major landslide has occurred in the vicinity of Altos de Oriente and Manantiales, near to Medellín and Bello, in Colombia. It is believed that about 25 people died. On 24 June 2025 at 3:20 am, a large landslide occurred in the vicinity of Altos de Oriente and Manantiales, near to Granizal in Colombia. At the time of writing, 13 bodies have been recovered and a further 12 are missing. In total, 50 houses were destroyed. I don’t yet have the precise location of this landslide tied down. A map on the El Colombiano news site places it at [6.30905,…
The 24 June 2025 landslide at Houzihé Grand Bridge in Guizhou, China
A significant landslide has destroyed a major bridge on the Xiarong Expressway in Guizhou, China. On 24 June 2025, intense rainfall triggered a significant landslide at the site of the Houzihé Grand Bridge, which is a part of the Xiarong Expressway (a key road that is also known as Xiamen–Chengdu Expressway (route G76). The landslide…
The 3 August 2024 debris flow in the Ridi valley, Kangding, Sichuan Province, China
27 people were killed by a massive channelised debris flow in China last year. On 3 August 2024, a large debris flow occurred in the Ridi valley, Kangding, Sichuan Province, China. This event is described in a paper (Cheng et al. 2025) just published in the journal Landslides. Whilst the paper itself is behind a…
The 15 June 2025 landslide at Zhonghe in western Guangdong province, China
A community in China had a narrow escape when a landslide, triggered by Typhoon Wutip, occurred on the slopes above the village. Fortunately, the population had been evacuated when a local woman noted signs that a failure might be imminent. At about 4 am on 15 June 2025, rainfall associated with the remnants of Typhoon…
Images of the May 2025 Yukon River landslide
Derek Cronmiller of the Yukon Geological Survey has provided a stunning set of the images of the fascinating recent failure that partially blocked the Yukon River. Following my post yesterday about the May 2025 landslide on the Yukon River, Derek Cronmiller, who is head of Surficial Geology at the Yukon Geological Survey kindly made contact…
A large landslide on the Yukon River in Canada
In May 2025, a 950 m wide landslide occurred on the banks of the Yukon River in Canada. A few days ago, the Yukon Geological Survey posted some information to its Facebook site regarding a large landslide that has occurred on the banks of the Yukon River close to Burma Road. This was the information…
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About Dave
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.