May 2009 Mudslides

Mudslides: Deadly Natural Hazards Enhanced by Human Activity

Large scale mudslides caused by heavy rainfalls yesterday damaged at least 200 homes in three villages in  Khatlon’s Khuroson district in southwester Tajikistan.

The authorities have been unable to assess the extent of damage caused by the disaster as most parts of  the villages are buried in the mud avalanche.

Mudslides hit three villages in Khuroson. Photo: Asia-Plus. Image may be subject to copyright.

“District hospital # 2 located in the settlement of Uyali was seriously damaged by the powerful mudslide and it currently does not work. All patients from this hospital have been evacuated to Qurghon Teppa and the central district hospital in the administrative center of Khuroson. A temporary camp for the mudslide-affected people has been set up.” Asia Plus reported.

“The source noted that mudslides had hit a number of other districts in Khatlon as well. Thus, seven residential buildings were damaged in the village of Pakhtakor in the Jilikul district; four of them were destroyed completely. Mudslides also demolished 50 hectares of cotton fields in the Panj district, damaged the section of the road Qurghon Teppa-Panj near the village of Somoni and partially damaged eight residential buildings in the Qumsangir district.”

A mountainous country in Central Asia, Tajikistan is landlocked by Kyrgyzstan to the north, Afghanistan to the south, People’s Republic of China to the east and Uzbekistan to the west.

This was the second large-scale mudslide to strike the area in less than three weeks.

Pitkin County, Colorado
On Monday mudslide toppled trees, rupturing an oil tank and causing oil spills at Buttermilk Ski Area in Pitkin County, in the US state of Colorado.

The slide was 60-feet wide by 100-feet long. No one was inside the shop and no one was injured as the mud came down over a two-hour period this afternoon, said Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman Jeff Hanle.

South Africa: Winter Rains a Mudslide Threat Following Fire

“The authorities are watching the denuded slopes of Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak carefully for any signs of a mudslide like those that damaged homes in the Clifton and Vredehoek areas in the 1990s, following devastating mountain fires.

“In March a fire raged across the slopes of Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak, consuming large tracts of veld and leaving the mountain devoid of soil-holding vegetation.

“Now the bare mountain poses another threat as winter sets in. There is a possibility that heavy rains could cause slides of debris, rocks and branches which could destroy roads and property from the Rhodes Memorial to parts of the CBD.” More …

Related News Links:

• The death toll from floods and mudslides triggered by a typhoon in the northern Philippines has more than doubled to 36, with 12 people still missing
• Four People Killed in Peru Mudslide
• Doctors needed for Panabaj

• A mudslide killed a woman and her daughter when it crushed their house in the Colombian city of Armenia
• PURDY CUT OFF ROAD CLOSED DUE TO MUDSLIDE
• Rain Causes Mudslides, Basement Flooding In Corbin, Kentucky

• Mayor Of Corbin [Eastern Kentucky] Declares State Of Emergency
• Road Closed by Mudslide in Rockbridge Co., VA
• Cotswold Geotech facing manslaughter charges over mudslide death of Alex Wright

Related FEWW Link:

• Landslides, Floods, Extreme Rain Events

Colombia’s Nevado del Huila Eruption Kills 12

Lahars and Avalanches triggered by Colombia’s Nevado del Huila eruption kill a dozen people

Nevado del Huila, at 5,365 metres, is the highest volcano in Colombia. Photo: Source. Image may be subject to copyright.

Colombia’s Nevado del Huila volcano erupted at 9:45 p.m. Thursday unleashing two avalanches and waves of lahars and mudslides down the River Paez killing at least a dozen people and destroying about 26 houses, a school, a football stadium and five bridges, the presidential office said. About a dozen others were injured and at least 9 people were reported missing.

Some 12,000 people living in the sparsely populated region, a reservation for Nasa indigenous communities area, about 240km south of Bogota, have been evacuated, the government said.

The worst affected area was reportedly near the town of Belalcázar, in the southwestern Cauca province.

Some 23,000 Colombians were killed when the nearby Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted In 1985 triggering lahars and mudslides in the country’s worst ever natural disaster known as the Armero tragedy.

Related Links:

• The aftermath of the volcano’s eruption (short video)
• 10 Dead in Eruption of Colombia Nevado del Huila Volcano

Week 35 Volcano Watch

27 August-2 September 2008

New Activity/Unrest:

• Kasatochi, Andreanof Islands
• Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion Island
• Soufrière Hills, Montserrat

Deposits from the pyroclastic flow on 25 August 2008. Inset shows image from thermal camera. Source: Montserrat Volcano Observatory’s photostream. Image may be subject to copyright.

Ongoing Activity:

• Batu Tara, Komba Island (Indonesia)
• Chaitén, Southern Chile |
• Chikurachki, Paramushir Island
• Dukono, Halmahera
• Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka
• Kilauea, Hawaii (USA)
• Llaima, Central Chile
• Nevado del Huila, Colombia
• Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of Congo
• Okmok, Fox Islands
• Rabaul, New Britain
• Semeru, Eastern Java (Indonesia)
• Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
• Taal, Luzon
• Ubinas, Perú

See the GVP Home Page for news of the latest significant activity.

The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.