Worldwide Overview of Large Landslides of the 20th and 21st Centuries
About This List
This list provides an overview of large landslides that have occurred around the world in the 20th and 21st centuries, and which have had notable socio-economic impacts. The list is updated periodically. Socio-economic impacts include deaths, injuries, monetary losses, and effects on the built and natural environments. The criteria used for inclusion in the list are (1) at least 100 deaths and/or (2) major monetary losses, and/or (3) notable effects on the natural environment. The information in this list is not meant to be a comprehensive description of each landslide. Should the reader desire more information, a numbered reference list is included with each listed landslide indexed to its respective reference(s). Efforts have been made to insure the accessibility of the cited references and for this reason, some selected secondary sources are cited, as they are easily obtainable in libraries or by use of the internet. The user should be aware that for many of the landslides, there are more references available, and are not limited to those found here. More...
In addition to those listed here, in the landslide literature describes very large-scale recent, historic and prehistoric landslides, for which socio-economic effects are not evident or recorded. Reference numbers 17, 19, 22, and 60 feature descriptions of large landslides that have occurred worldwide, that did not result in great socio-economic effects, but are nevertheless notable in physical size.
Not all large landslides have significant socio-economic effects because many occur in sparsely populated areas or people are evacuated from the affected area before the landslide occurs. A common example is the potential catastrophic impacts of large landslides blocking streams and rivers. In most cases, people are evacuated downstream of a landslide-blocked waterway before the landslide dam fails naturally or is manually breached in a controlled manner. In addition, the build-up of rising water behind the blockage caused by the landslide dam can cause extensive flooding. In this case the water level rises slowly, and people are able to evacuate to safer areas, resulting in reduced deaths and injuries.
Landslides move in response to many different triggers, and those included in this compilation include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, rainfall, snowmelt, failure of landslide and moraine dams, river bank failure, and man's activities, such as excavation and mining. For a guide to the types of landslides and the various triggering processes, please see: USGS Fact Sheet 2004-3072, "Landslide Types and Processes," http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3072/ and reference number 11, Cruden and Varnes, 1996).
When available, an indication of the size of each landslide or landslide event is included in this compilation. For single landslides, size is characterized by either measures or estimates of volume, area, width, travel distance or length, or a combination of these. Some landslides in the list do not have an entry for "Size." In these cases the size was either not assessed or known, or it may be that the description in the literature simply did not include a size parameter. In some cases, landslides may be revisited or more thoroughly researched at a future date, and a size measurement can then be obtained if the information is published.
There are doubtless many landslides worldwide that have occurred and have had severe impacts, but were not recorded, studied, or included in compilations of landslide inventories or events. The reader is welcome to suggest revisions, modifications, or additions to the list, if documentation is provided. Please write to Lynn Highland, highland@usgs.gov
| Year | Location | Name & Type | Trigger | Size | Impact | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | Tajikistan | Usoy rock slide | Usoy earthquake Magnitude 7.4 |
2 billion m3 (volume) |
Usoy Village was destroyed, causing 54 deaths. The rockslide dammed the Murgab River, impounding 65-km- long Lake Sarez,which presently still exists. The area remains a hazard due to the possibility of another landslide sliding into the lake, causing a wave, and/or breaching of the dam, as thousands of people live downstream of the dam. | 8, 20, 68 |
| 1914 | Argentina | Rio Barrancas & Rio Colorado debris flow | Failure of ancient landslide dam | 2 million m3 (volume) Length of flow: 300 km |
Two small towns were devastated, and numerous ranches and farms destroyed along a 60-km- long valley. The flows devastated valleys of the Rio Barrancas and Rio Colorado. | 18 |
| 1919 | Indonesia (Java) | Kelut lahars | Eruption of Kelut Volcano | 185 km (length) |
Lahars caused 5,110 deaths, and destroyed or damaged 104 villages. | 4, 63, 71 |
| 1920 | China, Gansu, Haiyuan | Loess flows, landslides | Haiyuan Earthquake Magnitude 8.5, 10 min. duration of shaking |
50,000 km2 (area) |
There were 100,000+ deaths from landslides and the failures in loess caused extreme fissuring, landslide dams, and buried villages. | 19, 52, 67, 72 |
| 1920 | Mexico | Rio Huitzilapan debris flows | Earthquake, Magnitude 6.5-7.0, based on reported intensities | >40 km (length) |
There were an estimated 600 - 870 deaths. The flow destroyed village of Barranca Grande, and there were enormous debris flows of 40 to 65 m deep. | 53 |
| 1921 | Kazakh Republic | Alma-Ata debris flow | Snow melt, subsequent rainfall | A debris flow in the Valley of Alma-Atinka River destroyed the town of Alma-Ata. There were 500 deaths. | 69 | |
| 1933 | China (Sichuan) | Deixi landslides | Deixi Earthquake, Magnitude 7.5 | >150 million m3 (volume) |
The largest landslide formed a 255-m high landslide dam on the Min River. This landslide killed all but one of the 577 people in the town of Deixi. The dam then overtopped, causing a flood and 2,500 deaths. | 19, 39, 52 |
| 1938 | Japan (Hyogo) | Mount Rokko Landslides and mudflows | Rainfall | There were 505 deaths (or missing) and 130,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged by landslides and floods. | 43, 47 | |
| 1941 | Peru | Huaraz debris flow | Failure of moraine dam | 10 million m3 (volume) |
The debris flow destroyed one-fourth of the town of Huaraz, and 4,000-6,000 deaths were reported. The debris flow dammed the Rio Santa River and the later dam failure caused flooding which destroyed downstream settlements and farms. | 18, 53 |
| 1945 | Peru | Cerro Condor-Sencca Rockslide | Erosional under-cutting | 5.5 million m3 (volume) |
The rockslide formed a 100-m-high dam at Rio Montara, which failed after 73 days, causing a flood. Many roads, 13 bridges and extensive farmland was destroyed, and effects from the rockslide completely changed the morphology of the Rio Montara river valley. | 18, 53 |
| 1949 | Tajikistan (Tien Shan Mtns.) |
Khait landslides, rock avalanches, flowslides | Khait Earthquake, Magnitude 7.4 | 245 million m3 (volume) The Khait landslide itself: 75 million m3 (volume) |
There were approximately 7,200 deaths and the settlements of Khait and Khisorak were inundated. Many of the landslides were coalescing slides, composed of loess. | 14 |
| 1953 | Japan (Wakayama) | Arida River landslides, mud flows, and debris flows | Rainfall | Heavy rain fell, due to a major typhoon. There were 1,046 deaths and many landslide dams were formed and subsequently failed in the Arid-Kawa valley | 43 | |
| 1953 | Japan (city of Kyoto) | Minamiyamashiro landslides, mud flows, and debris flows | Rainfall | There were 336 dead or missing. 5,122 homes were destroyed or badly damaged by landslides and floods. | 43, 59 | |
| 1958 | Japan (Shizuoka) | Kanogawa landslides, mud flows, and debris flows | Rainfall | There were 1,094 deaths and missing. 19,754 homes were destroyed or badly damaged. | 43, 47, 59 | |
| 1960 | Chile | Rupanco region | Valdivia Earthquake, Magnitude 7.5 Preceded by heavy rain |
40 million m3 (volume) |
210 deaths occurred, from many large landslides; A landslide dam was formed, and buildings, port, facilities, roads & agricultural fields were destroyed. | 53, 59 |
| 1962 | Peru (Ancash) | Nevados Huascaran debris avalanche | Not known | 13 million m3 (volume) |
There were 4,000 - 5,000 deaths and much of the village of Ranrahirca was destroyed. (Mt. Huascaran is the highest peak in the Peruvian Andes) | 41, 44, 53, 59 |
| 1963 | Italy (Friuli-Venezia Griulia | Vaoint Reservoir rockslide | Not known | 250 million m3 (volume) |
There were 2,000 deaths. The city of Longarone was badly damaged. This high-velocity rockslide slid into Vaiont Reservoir and caused 100-m waves to overtop Vaiont Dam. The losses were $200 million, in 1963 dollars. | 17, 18, 27, 33, 45, 59 |
| 1964 | United States (Alaska) | Alaska earthquake Landslides (a.k.a. Prince William Sound earthquake) | Alaska earthquake, Magnitude 9.0 | 211 million m3 (volume) submarine landslide at Seward; Turnagain Heights landslide, 9.6 million m3 (volume) Government Hill landslide, 700,000 m3 (volume) |
Estimated losses were $280 million (1964 dollars). There was major landslide damage in the cities of Whittier, Anchorage, Valdez and Seward. Submarine landslides generated a tsunami at Seward, as a 1.2 km-long waterfront section slid into water. There were 106 deaths from the Seward tsunami and 16 deaths from a tsunami that occurred in California and Oregon. | 2, 25, 26, 53 |
| 1965 | China (Yunnan) | Rockslide | Not known | 450 million m3 (volume) |
Four villages were destroyed, causing 444 deaths. | 38 |
| 1966 | Brazil (city of Rio de Janeiro) | Landslides, avalanches, mud flows and debris flows | Rainfall | There were 1,000 deaths, mostly in the city of Rio de Janeiro. | 12, 53, 59 | |
| 1970 | Peru (Ancash) | Nevados Huascaran debris avalanche | Earthquake, Magnitude 7.7 | 30 - 50 million m3 (volume) |
There were 18,000 deaths. The town of Yungay was destroyed, and the town of Ranrahirca was partially destroyed | 9, 18, 50, 51, 53, 59 |
| 1974 | Peru | Mayunmarca rockslide/debris avalanche | Rainfall | 1.6 billion m3 (volume) |
This debris avalanche averaged a velocity of 140 km/hr. It dammed the Mantaro River causing 450 deaths. Many houses, farms, and roads were destroyed. | 36, 37, 53, 59 |
| 1976 | Guatemala | Guatemala earthquake landslides | Guatemala Earthquake, Magnitude 7.5 | 10,000 landslides over an area of 16,000 km2 | There were at least 200 deaths, and highways and railroads were disrupted. In addition, 500 dwellings were damaged. Most damage occurred in Guatemala City. | 24, 53 |
| 1980 | China (Yichang, Hubei) | Yanchihe Rock avalanche | Mining activity - occurred on man-made layered slopes | 150 million m3 (volume) |
The rock avalanche extensively damaged this phosphorite mining area and caused 284 deaths. | 38, 52 |
| 1980 | United State (Washington) | Mount St. Helens rockslide/debris avalanche | Eruption of Mount St. Helens volcano | 3.7 billion m3 (volume) |
This is the world's largest historical landslide. There were 57 deaths and 250 homes, 47 bridges, and 24km of rail were destroyed. There was 298km of highway destroyed. The rockslide transformed into a 23-km-long debris avalanche with average velocity of 25 km/hr.; surface remobilized into a 95-km-long debris flow. Deaths were low due to prior evacuation of the area. | 53, 57, 65 |
| 1983 | United States (Utah) | Thistle Debris slide | Snow melt and subsequent rainfall | 21 million m3 (volume) |
This landslide destroyed major railroads and highways, and dammed the Spanish Fork Rive flooding the town of Thistle. There were no deaths, but it is the most expensive landslide to fix in U.S. history. The rerouting of a major road and railroad amounted to $600 million in losses (1983 dollars). | 31, 53, 62 |
| 1983 | China (Gansu) | Saleshan landslide | Rainfall | 35 million m3 (volume) |
The landslide caused 237 deaths and buried 4 villages, and also filled two reservoirs. This event is also known as a loess landslide. | 39, 52 |
| 1983 | Ecuador | Chunchi | Rain and/or snow (wettest year of century) | 1 million m3 (volume) |
There were 150 deaths and the debris blocked the Pan American Highway. | 18, 53 |
| 1985 | Colombia (Tolima) | Nevado del Ruiz debris flows | Eruption of Nevado del Ruiz volcano | Four towns and villages were destroyed. The debris flowed into the Lagunillas River Valley, and there were 23,000 deaths in the city of Armero, as hazard warnings were not passed on to the population. | 42, 53 | |
| 1985 | Puerto Rico (city of Mameyes) | Landslide | Rainfall from tropical storm | There were 129 deaths, making it the most deadly landslide to occur In North America. Tropical storm rainfall together with a possible leaky sewer pipe saturated the hillside and destroyed 120 houses. | 29, 53 | |
| 1986 | Papua, New Guinea (East New Britain) | Bairaman rockslide/debris avalanche | Bairaman earthquake, Magnitude 7.1 | 200 million m3 (volume) |
The debris avalanche formed a 21 m-high dam and impounded a 50-million m3 lake; the dam then failed causing a 100-m-deep debris flow and flood downstream. The village of Bairaman was destroyed by the debris flow from the breached dam. Casualties were prevented by evacuation. | 34, 35 |
| 1987 | Ecuador (Napo) | Reventador landslides | Reventador earthquakes, Magnitude 6.1 and 6.9 and rainfall | 75 - 110 million m3 (volume) |
There were 1,000 deaths and many kilometers of the Trans-Ecuadorian oil pipeline and highway were destroyed. Thousands of thin slides remobilized into debris flows in a tributary and in main drainages. Losses were reported to be $1 billion (1987 dollars). | 53, 55, 56 |
| 1987 | Venezuela | Rio Limon, debris flow | Rainfall | 2 million m3 (volume) |
There were 210 deaths, 400 injured, 30,000 homeless. 1,500 homes, 500 vehicles, three bridges, and 25 km of roads were damaged or destroyed. | 18, 53 |
| 1987 | Colombia | Villa Tina, soil slide | Pond leakage | 20 million m3 (volume) |
There were at least 217 deaths, and 80 houses were destroyed. | 18, 53 |
| 1988 | Brazil | Rio de Janeiro and Petropolis landslides, avalanches, and debris flows | Rainfall | Approximately 300 deaths occurred, and many structures were destroyed. | 18, 53 | |
| 1989 | China (Huaying, Sichuan) | Xikou landslide | Rainfall | 221 deaths were reported. | 52 | |
| 1991 | China (Zhaotong, Yunan) | Touzhai landslide | Rainfall | 18 million m3 (volume) |
216 deaths were reported. | 52 |
| 1991 | Chile | Antofagasta debris flows | Rainfall | 500 - 700 million m3 (volume) |
"Hundreds" of deaths were reported, and a large number of homes were damaged. The water-supply system was heavily damaged as were many roads and railway lines. | 18, 53 |
| 1993 | Ecuador | La Josefina rockslide | Mine excavation & heavy rainfall | 20-25 million m3 (volume) |
The landslide formed a 100-m high dam on Rio Paute. The failure of the dam 33 days later caused a flow of 10,000 M3/s. Many roads, 13 bridges, and much farmland was destroyed, however, there were no casualties. | 18, 53 |
| 1994 | Colombia (Cauca) | Paez landslides | Paez earthquake, Magnitude 6.0 | 250 km2 (area) |
There were 272 deaths, 1,700 missing, 158 injured, and 12,000 displaced. "Thousands of landslides" resulted from this earthquake. | 40, 53, 54 |
| 1998 | Northern India (Malpa Himalaya Region | Large rockfall/debris avalanche | Rainfall | "large" | This event caused 221 deaths. A landslide dam failed, and caused a debris-flow. Losses were reported as 0.5 million rupees for direct losses, and 0.2 million rupees, for indirect losses. | 49, 59 |
| 1998 | Italy (Campania) | Landslides and debris flows | Rainfall | More than 100 individual slope failures | 55 mm of rainfall occurred in one day. There were 161 debris flows individual slope failures deaths in the areas of Sarno, Quindicci, Bracigliano, and Siano. A broken water pipeline is thought to have made some slope saturation worse, although most landslides were not affected by the pipe leak. | 13, 22 |
| 1998 | Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador | Landslides and debris flows | Rainfall | Hurricane Mitch caused torrential rainfall. Approximately 10,000 deaths from the flooding and landslides occurred. Casitas volcano in Nicaragua experienced large debris flows, as torrential rains occurred at the rate of 10 cm of rain per hour. Large landslides in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and elsewhere, occurred. | 5, 7, 10, 60, 61 | |
| 1999 | Venezuela (Vargas, northern coastal area) | Landslides & debris flows | Rainfall | Exact size unknown | Nearly 1m of heavy rain fell in a 3-day period. There were as many as 30,000 deaths. Hundreds of buildings, roads, and houses were destroyed. The landslides caused changes in stream morphology. Losses amounted to $1.9 billion in 2001 dollars. Thousands of landslides reported and debris flows occurred along 24 streams and along 40 km of coastline. | 46, 66 |
| 1999 | Taiwan | Landslides | Chi-Chi Earthquake, Magnitude 7.3 | 11,000 km2 (area) |
Over 10,000 landslides and large rockslides occurred. The Tsao-ling Rockslide caused 29 deaths and the Ju Feng-er-shan rockslide caused 90 deaths. Urban area landslides caused 39 deaths. | 21, 32 |
| 2000 | Tibet | Yigong Landslide | Meltwater from, snow and glacier | 100 million m3 (volume) |
There were 109 deaths and a landslide dammed the Yigong River. Two months later, the dam breached causing destructive flooding and property loss. 500,000 people were made homeless in 5 districts of Arunanchal Pradesh, India. | 58 |
| 2001 | El Salvador | Landslides, lateral spreading, liquefaction | 2 earthquakes, 1/13/2001 Magnitude 7.7 and 2/13/2001 Magnitude 6.6 | There were thousands of landslides, large landslide in Las Colinas resulting in ~585 deaths. There were reports of liquefaction. The January earthquake caused landslides over a 25,000 km2 area, (including parts of Guatemala). The February earthquake caused landslides over a 2,500 km2 area. | 3, 28 | |
| 2002 | Russia (North Ossetia) | Kolka Glacier debris flow | Detachment of large glacier, causing a debris flow | Travel distance: 19.5 km; 110 million m3 volume of glacial ice deposited 2 - 5 million m3 of ice (volume) debris at end of runout |
A 2.7-km-long glacier mass detached from its bed, accelerated to 65 m/s in under 6 km, and then traveled further, 13 km downstream partway, as an extremely rapid glacier debris flow. It caused 125 deaths, and created a landslide dam. | 15 |
| 2003 | Sri Lanka (Ratnapura & Hambantota) | Landslides & debris flows | Rainfall | There were 260 deaths (some due to floods), at least 24,000 homes and schools destroyed, and 180,000 families were left homeless. | 59 | |
| 2003 | United States (San Bernardino County, California) | Debris flows | Rainfall | >1 million m3 (total volume) |
These debris flows resulted from rainfall on wildfire-burned areas. The fires were the Old and Grand Prix fires, which burned adjacent river basins. 16 people were killed and estimates of losses were 26.5 million, according to the California Office of Emergency Services and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. | 6 |
| 2005 | Pakistan, India | Landslides, rockfalls rock avalanches | Kashmir earthquake, Magnitude 7.6 | Thousands of landslides | The total deaths from all landslides was 25,500. The largest event, the Hattian Bala rock avalanche dammed 2 tributaries of the Jhelum river, and buried a village, causing 1,000 deaths. The size of this rock avalanche is 80 million m3. | 23, 48 |
| 2006 | Philippines (Leyte) | Rockslide, debris avalanche | Rainfall | 15 million m3 (volume) |
There was 685 mm of rain in the preceding weeks. There were 1,100 deaths and 375 homes and a school were destroyed. | 16, 59 |
| 2008 | China (Sichuan) | Landslides, rock avalanches, and debris flows | Wenchuan Earthquake, Magnitude 8.0 | Still being assessed | There were 15,000 landslides, and 20,000 deaths from landslides. There were 66 landslide dams formed, 24 requiring emergency mitigation. | 70 |
| 2008 | Egypt (East Cairo) | Al-Duwayqa rockslide | Destabilization due to man-made construction | Affected area was 6,500 m3 in volume and rocks weighed about 18,000 tons | A rockslide buried part of a village, destroying at least 150 houses. There were 107 deaths, 57 injured and a reported 400 missing, and most of these were probably buried under large rocks that could not be excavated. Some experts believe sewage and decomposing garbage on top of the rock scarp caused clay layers to expand, adding to destabilization already present due to construction activities. | 1 |
| 2010 | Uganda (Bududa) | Debris flows | Heavy rainfall | Still being assessed and published studies are pending | 400+ deaths, 200,000 displaced | |
| 2010 | Brazil (city of Rio De Janeiro) | Debris flows | Heavy rainfall | Still being assessed and published studies are pending | 350 deaths, 61 houses destroyed |
Note
There are doubtless many landslides worldwide that have occurred and have had severe impacts, but were not recorded, studied, or included in compilations of landslide inventories or events. The reader is welcome to suggest revisions, modifications, or additions to the list, if documentation is provided. Please write to Lynn Highland, highland@usgs.gov
