Data

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Sediment-related Disasters in the world : 2016

Jan.1-Dec.31, 2016

Date of occurrence Country Type Summary
Mar. 11 Brazil Landslide A landslide occurred in Francisco Morato near Sao Paulo as a result of heavy rainfall that had started on the previous day, burying houses and killing 8 residents. A total of 25 people in neighboring areas were killed by floods or landslides, including 10 in Mairipora, 2 in Itatiba, 1 in Guarulhos, 1 in Cajamar and 1 in Franco da Rocha. The 24-hour rainfall amount from the 10th to the 11th was 87.2 mm, more than half of that of the same month in an usual year.
Mar. 19 Pakistan Avalanche An avalanche occurred in the afternoon of the 19th near Susom in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwestern part of Pakistan, damaging houses and killing 11 people. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), at least 79 were killed and 101 injured throughout the country by landslides triggered by heavy rainfall since 9th of March, and 240 buildings were also damaged.
Mar. 24 Indonesia Landslide Landslides occurred in Clapar village, a sub district of Madukara in the regency of Banjarnegara in Central Java province, at around 18:00 on the 24th and around 13:30 on the 25th. It totally destroyed 9 houses, partially destroyed 34, and forced 218 people to evacuate. As the landslide’s movement was slow, fortunately no one was killed. The landslide was approximately 100 to 200 m in width and 8 ha in area.
Apr. 2 Pakistan Flood and
Slope
Failure
Heavy rainfall that started in the morning caused wide-area flooding in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northwestern part of Pakistan and the territory of Kashmir (the area under Pakistani administration), killing at least 92 people. A hillside landslide occurred in Kashmir’s Neelam valley, destroying 2 houses, and killing a total of 8 people, they were 5 children and 3 women. A large collapse also occurred in Kohistan valley, about 200 km north of Islamabad, the capital of Afghanistan, burying 23 people alive.
Apr. 14-16 Japan Slope
Failure and
Debris Flow
A foreshock of magnitude 6.5 occurred with the epicenter near Mashiki town, Kamimashiki-gun, Kumamoto prefecture, on April 14 at 21:26. Then, on April 16 at 1:25, the main shock hit the same area with a magnitude of 7.3. There were 190 sediment disasters in Kumamoto and neighboring prefectures (57 debris flows, 10 landslides, and 123 slope failures). In the affected areas, slope failures occurred in Minami Aso village, and 10 people were killed, they were 1 in the Aso Ohashi area, 2 in the Hinotori Onsen area, 2 in the Tatenokawa area, and 5 in the Takanodai area. Then, 5 people were killed by a sediment disaster caused by heavy rainfall from a rainy front in June. In total, 15 were killed by the earthquake and related disasters.
Apr. 21 India Slope
Failure
Because of continuous rainfall in Famla village, Tawang district, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India near the border with China, a mountain behind the construction site of a five-star hotel collapsed in the night. 17 people were killed and dozens were missing.
May 7 Myanmar Slope
Failure
In Hpakant city, Myitkyina, Kachin, 950 km northeast of the capital Yangon, two days of continuous rainfall caused a collapse of a heap of slag in a jade mine. It was presumed that at least 42 were buried and killed and that over 200 were missing. In November of the previous year, 113 people were killed by a similar disaster in this area, and then it became a serious problem. However, no measure had been taken for prevention the same type of disaster.
May 8 China Debris Flow At a hydroelectric power plant under construction in Taining county of the eastern Chinese province of Fujian, a debris flow occurred in a small stream behind the construction site, releasing 100,000 m3 of sediment, burying a workers’ camp and killing 35 workers. In addition, 7 people were missing by muddy stream.
May 10 Rwanda Slope
Failure
Continued torrential rainfall that began on May 7 caused many floods and collapses in four provinces in Rwanda. In Gakenke district, a slope failure hit a village in mountain foot and killed 34 people.
May 10 Uganda Slope Failure Heavy rainfall caused a slope failure in the village of Kyamukube, Bukonzo, Bughendera county, and killed 15.
May 11 Ethiopia Slope
Failure
Heavy rainfall caused collapse in Wolayita in southern part of Ethiopia, killing at least 41 people, 28 of them were found. Because the surrounding area was inundated, the search for other victims was very difficult.
May 15 Indonesia Debris Flow Heavy rainfall caused a debris flow near the Two Color Falls, upstream of a camping site in mountains in Sibolangit district, the northern part of Sumatra Island. 17 students visiting there were killed, 4 were missing and 58 were rescued.
May 17 Sri Lanka Landslide
and Debris
Flow
Landslide and debris flow occurred on May 17th at around 17:18 in Aranayake, Kegalle district, Sabaragamuwa province, northeast of Colombo by heavy rainfall that started on 15th. The landslide turned into a debris flow, temporarily stopped at a mountain stream, but the stopped flow burst at around 0:00 on 18th, sweeping over two communities in the mountain foothills. As a result, 48 people were killed, 113 were missing, and 110 houses were destroyed completely and 147 houses were partially destroyed (according to DDMCU-Kegalle). This rainfall was due to the approaching tropical cyclone, and the accumulated rainfall from 15th to 17th reached 200 to 373 mm. Another landslide occurred in neighboring Bulathkohupitiya, and 14 people were killed and 2 were missing.
May 21 Indonesia Pyroclastic
Flow
Huge eruption occurred at Mt. Sinabung in Sumatra, and pyroclastic flow hit many villages. Eventually, 7 people were killed, 2 were injured, and many people were missing. The volcano had erupted several times since 2013, and pyroclastic flow killed 16 people in 2014. The area 4 km from the crater was off-limits, but some residents had continued farming there.
Jun. 19 Indonesia Slope
Failure and
Debris Flow
A landslide occurred by torrential rainfall in Purworejo, southern coast of Central Java, Java Island, and 19 people were killed. A collapse also occurred in Banjarnegara in the same province, and throughout province, 35 people were killed, 25 were missing, and 14 were injured.
Jul. 1 China Slope
Failure
Heavy rainfall caused a slope failure early in the morning of 1st in Pinpo, Guinzou Province in southern part of China, and 29 people were buried alive, 10 were killed, 7 were injured and 12 were missing.
Jul. 2 India Slope
Failure
Heavy monsoon rainfall that had continued since July 1st triggered a collapse in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh in northern part of India. The former killed 15 people, the latter killed 10, and many people were missing.
Jul. 5 Nepal Slope
Failure
Rainfall that had continued since the night of the previous day eventually caused a collapse early in the morning of the 5th in the Pyuthan district in midwest of Nepal, burying 2 houses and killing 8 people. It caused another collapse of mountain behind community in Gorkha district, central part of Nepal and 3 people were killed.
Jul. 6 China Slope
Failure
Slope failure occurred early in the morning of 6th July in the Kunlun mountains of Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, and hit a village nearby and killed at least 35 people.
Jul. 25 Nepal Flood,
Debris
Flow, and
Slope Failure
Flood, debris flow, and slope failure occurred intermittently from 20th July in central Nepal due to heavy monsoon rainfall. In particular, because of the disasters triggered by rainfall from July 25th to 27th, 122 people were killed, 19 were missing, and 67 were injured. 51 districts had damage by these disasters, 1,556 houses were totally destroyed and 3,226 partially destroyed, especially damage in the Terai plain was serious.
Aug. 6 Mexico Slope Failure Slope failure occurred behind community in Xalapa, Veracruz State, eastern part of Mexico due to heavy rainfall from Hurricane Earl buried 2 houses and killed 10 people. Another slope failure in Puebla also killed 28. At least 39 were killed in the three states Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo.
Sep. 28 China Slope Failure Huge slope failure with 200m in height and 100m in width occurred due to heavy rainfall from Typhoon Megi in Sucun, a village in Beijie town, Suichang county, Lishui city, Zhejiang province, at around 17:30.on September 28th. About 400,000m3 of sediment buried 20 houses and killed 26 people but 13 were rescued. Another slope failure occurred in Baofeng village, Wencheng, Wenzhou city, and 6 people were killed.
Nov. 22 New Caledonia Flood and
Slope
Failure
Flood was caused due to continuous heavy rain from the previous week in Houailou, a community in the northwestern part of the island. Slope failure occurred at two locations around Gouareu, a mountain village in the south of Houailou, killed 8 people in total. The rainfall amount of the 12-hour period lasting until noon on November 22nd reached 400 mm
Dec. 28 Myanmar Slope
Failure
Collapse of slag accumulated at a height of 122-m occurred at the jade mine in Hpakant, in the northern part of Kachin state killed 30 to 40 mine workers. Another collapse had occurred at the same mine in November of the previous year, taking 115 lives. Although the mine had safety problems, no improvement was made yet. According to the Red Cross, over 300 people were killed by 38 collapses in the previous year.