Data

Other Countries


Sediment-related Disasters in the world : 2017

Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2017

Date of occurrence Country Type Summary
Jan. 18 Italy Avalanche In Farindola village in the central Italian province of Pescara, there were earthquakes of over 5 magnitude beginning on the morning. After the fourth earthquake, an avalanche occurred, striking Hotel Rigopiano (located on a mountain slope of 1200m). The avalanche moved the hotel 10 meters and buried it under 2 meters of snow. By the fourth day after the avalanche, 11 people were rescued and 29 were found dead in the snow and the collapsed building.
Jan. 20 China Slope
Failure
A rocky mountain collapsed in the midstream area of the Yangtze River in Nanzhang, Xiangyang city, Hubei province. About 3,000 m3 of rock debris struck the Mirage Hotel, and killed 12 people. There had been no rainfall for a few days before the collapse.
Feb.4 to 7 Afghanistan and Pakistan Avalanche Heavy snowfall occurred over a wide area along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and caused several avalanches between Feb. 4th and 7th. These avalanches killed 85 people in provinces near the border, including 14 in Badakhshan, at least 50 in Nuristan, 1 in Nangarhar, and 7 in Parvan. In addition, 245 houses were totally destroyed. 15 people were killed in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, totally194 were killed, 90 injured, and 6,752 households lost their homes.
Feb. 9 Indonesia Slope
Failure
The landslides occurred in the midnight of May 9th in three villages in the Kintamani area, central part of Bali after heavy rainfall for a whole day. The landslides buried houses and killed 12 people; they were thought to be slope failures behind houses. Some of the damage thought to be caused by flash flooding.
Mar. 11 Ethiopia Slope
Failure
Heaps of refuse collapsed and killed 113 women and children who were looking for food and iron scraps at the garbage dump site in the suburb of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. Garbage had been dumped in the area for over 40 years, creating huge heaps of refuse with about 60 m high and covering 300,000 m2. Over 300 people were living in 50 houses there illegally.
Mar. 31 Colombia Debris Flow Rain had been falling for a few days in Mocoa with a population of 40,000 in the department of Putumayo, southwestern part of Colombia, and rainfall became stronger in the night of March 31st. Then, a collapse occurred around the town, causing a debris flow that hit the urban area, totally 25 houses were destroyed, 4500 people lost their homes, 314 were killed, 332 were injured and 127 were missing. President Santos visited the affected area and declared the extreme severe disaster. Rainfall on March 31st reached 130 mm, about 30% of the monthly rainfall.
Apr. 1 Indonesia Slope
Failure
At about 8:00 AM on April 1st, there was a collapse of a mountain slope of 100 m in height, 800 m in slope length, and 150 m in width, in Banaran village, Ponorogo regency, East Java. The landslide swept away 32 houses on the slope and in the valley. The landslide killed 28 people and injured 19 (according to a survey by BNPB in Dec. 2017). As cracks were found on the slope at the end of March after continuous rainfall for 20days, some residents were evacuating. However, the weather was good on April 1st, and some of the evacuated people returned home to harvest ginger, the local special product. These residents were the victims of the collapse.
Apr. 13 Iran Flood and
Slope
Failure
Torrential rain fell in four provinces centering on East Azerbaijan, and flood and slope failure occurred over a wide area, especially in Ajabshir and Azarshah 35 people were killed and 8 were missing .
Apr. 14 Sri Lanka Slope
Failure
At a garbage dump site called Meethotamulla in the Colombo, a 90m-high refuse mound collapsed, buried 145 houses and killed 28 people.
Apr. 19 Colombia Slope
Failure
Hillside landslides triggered by a torrential downpour in a few hours which recorded one month rainfall in Manizales, the department of Caldas, central Colombia washed away houses, killed 14 people and made 22 missing.
Apr. 29 Kyrgyzstan Landslide Landslide of grassland measuring about 80 m wide and 250 m occurred at 6:40 AM on 29th April in Ayu village in Osh province. The fluidized sediments buried six houses in densely residential area at the bottom of the slope, and killed 24 people, including 9 children.
May 24 to 26 Sri Lanka Flood and
Slope
Failure
A series of sediment-related disasters triggered by continuous torrential rainfall starting on May 20th in the rainy season killed 202 people and made 96 missing. A hillside collapse occurred on May 24th in Nivithigala, Ratnapura province, Sabaragamuwa state, central western part of Sri Lanka. It buried 10 houses, killed 11 people, made 15 missing and injured 3. In Kalawana in the same province, a bigger collapse destroyed 30 houses completely and 89 partially, and killed 21 people, made 10 missing and injured 7. On May 26th, flood and landslide occurred in the wide area of Kalutana province, western Sri Lanka, and killed 22 and made 15 missing in Palindanuwara, and killed 37, made 46 missing and injured 60, and destroyed 204 houses completely, 177 in Bulathsinhala.
Jun. 13 Bangladesh Slope
Failure
During rainy season, heavy rain that started on June 10th caused hillside collapses at various locations in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. In a low-income village in a hilly area in the Rangamati province, over 100 houses were buried and 35 people were killed. At least 154 were killed throughout the southeastern area.
Jun. 20 Guatemala Slope
Failure
In San Pedro Soloma, Huehutenango state, western part of Guatemala, a mountain collapsed and buried two houses and a truck with passengers. 11 people were killed and 4 injured.
Jun. 24 China Slope
Failure
Mountain collapse measuring 1,000 m in height, 3.5 km in slope length, and 2 km in width occurred at 5:38 AM after long rainfall in Xinmo village, Maoxian County, Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba, Sichuan state. The sediment from collapse dammed the Sonping River, and overflowing water washed away a road along the river and some villages. This landslide destroyed 40 houses and killed 140 people of 62 households.
Aug. 3 Vietnam Debris Flow In August, debris flows and slope failures occurred in Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Son La, Cao Bang and Lai Chau provinces in mountain area of northern part of Vietnam. These disasters killed 26 people and made 15 missing.
Aug. 8 China Debris Flow At around 6:00 AM, a debris flow occurred in Gengdi village, Liangshan, Sichuan province. At least 24 people were killed, 1 was missing, 4 were injured and 71 houses were completely destroyed by the debris flow.
Aug. 13 India Slope
Failure
In Himachal Pradesh in northern India, a collapse of steep mountain slope occurred and 2 buses were pushed away into deep valley. 45 people were killed by this disaster.
Aug. 14 Sierra Leone Slope
Failure and
Debris Flow
A 200 m wide and 1 km long mountain slope collapsed in the suburbs of Freetown, the capital, and hit a community at the bottom of the slope. Collapsed sediment turned into a debris flow that ran down for 3 to 4 km destroying houses on both sides of the river. This debris flow killed over 500 people and made 810 missing. The condition that houses of low-income people densely located in the river basin expanded the damage. Almost 6000people were influenced.
Aug. 16 Democratic Republic of the Congo Slope
Failure
A large-scale collapse occurred in Tara village on the coast of Albert Lake in Ituri, in the northeastern part of the country. It destroyed almost all 48 houses of the village. Government slow reaction expanded damage and resulted in death of 250 people..
Aug. 23 Switzerland Debris Flow A mud flow of glacial sediments occurred in a deep forest valley in Bondo village in Graubunden state, southeastern part of Switzerland near Italy. It overflowed the river at the end of the valley near the village. 400 million m3 of discharged sediment destroyed 12 farming facilities completely and made 8 people including foreign people missing. Nearly 100 people evacuated, and some were rescued by helicopter due to destroyed road access.
Aug. 28 China Slope
Failure
A large-scale slope failure occurred in the suburban area of Nayong county, Bijie city, Guizhou province, at about 11:00 AM on 28th due to heavy rainfall since 23rd. It destroyed 34 houses in the mountain foot. 17 people were confirmed dead, and 18 were missing due to the large volume of sediments.
Sep. 26 Uganda Slope
Failure
A landslide occurred due to heavy rainfall in the night behind the village of Nfasha, Muko sub county, Rubanda district in the western part of Uganda. The landslide buried many houses and 17 people were killed, 8 were missing, and 14 injured. Flood in the surrounding area also caused serious damage. The central government took action for the emergency food supplies such as corn and millet.
Oct. 12 Vietnam Flood and
Slope
Failure
"Lots of floods and sediment disasters occurred in northern and central areas of Vietnam due to heavy rain by tropical low pressure. The sediment disasters occurred again in the same areas as in August. Vietnam’s disaster control authority announced that the damage in the area was very serious, 75 people were dead, 28 missing, and over 50,000 houses were flooded or destroyed, and that the disaster was the worst in recent years."
Dec. 16 Chile Slope
Failure
Sediment disasters occurred on 16th due to heavy rain in the previous day and killed at least 5 people and made 15 missing.
Dec. 17 Philippines Flood and
Slope
Failure
"Due to heavy rainfall by Typhoon No. 26, landslides occurred at four locations in Biliran province, eastern part of Philippine and killed 26 people and made 23 missing. The next week, on the 22nd, the country was struck again by Typhoon No. 27, and 240 people on the island of Mindanao were killed by landslides and floods."