http://strangesounds.org/2015/08/another-giant-crack-opened-up-mexi...

Another giant crack just opened up in Mexico

There is another giant crack that is opening right now in Mexico!

The crack is about 1 kilometer long and up to 1 meter wide and was supposedly created by a large landslide.

Photo of the giant crack forming in the district of Oaxaca, Mexico

The huge trench appeared after a strong landslide on a road between San Mateo Tunuchi and San Francisco Higos in the district of Oaxaca on August 11, 2015.

At least 10 families live in the secluded area. The State Coordination of Civil Protection of Oaxaca (CEPCO) will determine whether or not residents have to be evacuated.

In September 2011, the population of Santiago and Santa Cruz Mitlatongo had to be relocated due to a similar landslide caused by water accumulation.

Landslides displace 250 families

http://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/landslides-displace-250-families/

More than 250 families of Dauda and Toleni VDCs were displaced due to landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in Doti on Monday night.

Some of the victims have taken shelter with their kin, some have been residing near forest areas whereas others have relocated themselves in the plains.

As the landslides posed a serious threat, the locals started to desert their settlements from Tuesday. More than eight settlements of the VDCs were abandoned due to high risk of disaster.

Ward nos 1, 2 and 3 of Dauda VDC and wards 4,5, 8 and 9 of Toleni VDC have been hit the worst, said Lal Bahadur Bogati, Daud VDC Secretary.

A rescue team has relocated the worst affected 32 families of Dauda VDC and 25 families of Toleni VDC so far.

Police Inspector Bodh Raj Ojha, who was deployed to relocate the families, said that the victims were relocated in schools, community buildings and buildings of government offices and other individuals’ houses in the first phase.

At least six persons, including five members of a single family were swept away in the landslip in Dauda on Monday night, whereas three others sustained injuries. At least three hydroelectric projects and a suspension bridge were damaged due to the landslips caused by heavy shower in the district. A large cultivated area was turned into desert as the disaster swept away the crops. Dozens of houses have been damaged and roads in several places have been blocked.

Spectacular cliff landslide due to STORMS - FRANCE

News - Published Saturday, August 15, 2015 by The Weather Channel - LA CHAINE METEO

A cliff landslide took place yesterday in the municipality of Varengeville-sur-Mer, in Seine-Maritime, near Dieppe.

http://actualite.lachainemeteo.com/actualite-meteo/2015-08-15-09h29...

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&...

Major emergency resources were quickly mobilized. There are strong suspicions about the presence of a victim under the mass of chalky rocks. The beach of Petit Ailly on which the landslide took place, was closed to the public.

Thunderstorms in question

The waves of storms that have succeeded the last two days in the department could weaken the chalk cliff. Because of very unstable weather conditions that weaken the cliffs, it is not advisable to walk at the foot of cliffs. In more general terms, we must respect the municipal bans in force.

The equivalent of a month's rain in a week

Monday and Thursday, from violent storms erupted in the country of Caux (48mm in Le Havre). In Dieppe, over the last 6 days, it fell 70 mm of water. Greater than 15mm of water slides were recorded on 10, 11, 13 and 14 August. With all these clouds and the rain, we are far from the sun and 38.3 ° C on July 1 Dieppe (absolute record heat).

MAP: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varengeville-sur-Mer

Landslide in Honduras, left 182 families without home:

According to an expert, the houses were built in an area where there was a landslide and the construction company did not made appropriate geological studies before building.

From:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&...

Mappleton beach cliff landslip starts after crack appears

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-33939525

A section of the East Yorkshire coastline is beginning to collapse after a large crack appeared in the cliffs at Mappleton beach.
A cordon has been put in place around the 50m crack, which was spotted on Wednesday, and people have been warned to avoid the cliff top.
Geologists described it as a "landslip in action" and said the cliff was "continuously slipping".
The council said "about 2,000 cubic metres" were in the process of falling.
Coastguard rescue officer and geologist Daniel Escreet said: "It's a huge danger. It's continuously slipping, it's a landslip in action.
"It'll be moving very slowly at the moment. But it could move very quickly at any time."
Michael Ball, the council's principal engineer, said: "It's the fastest eroding coastline in Europe.
"We've seen a large crack develop and the cliff is unstable.
"We've taken measures to make the area safe. We've put up fencing today. It's very likely it's going to give away soon... the next few tides could bring it down.
"People have to be aware that it's a dangerous situation to be standing too close to the cliff edge and getting too close to the base of the cliff, because material can fall down at anytime."7

3 people missing after several landslides in Alaska

Eight people killed after boulders hit Manikaran Sahib Gurdwara in Himachal due to landslide

Manikaran: Eight persons were killed and ten others injured when a building adjoining the historic Manikaran Sahib Gurdwara caved in due to a massive landslide on Tuesday afternoon.

The Gurdwara is an important place of worship for the Sikhs because it is believed that once, Guru Nanak came to the place with his disciple Bhai Mardana, according to Deccan Herald.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kanwar confirmed that eight bodies which were buried under huge boulders have been extricated while search is on for more.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the dead could be more than ten in number as a large number of people had taken shelter in the building, close to the Gurdwara, when the tragedy struck.

The exact number of dead or injured could not be ascertained as some bodies are feared to be buried under the debris.

The district administration has sought the assistance of Gurdwara authorities in locating and identifying the bodies as most people staying in the building were outsiders.

People ran helter-skelter as boulders fell on the building and many were trapped as a huge portion of the three-storey building virtually collapsed.

The locals and Gurdwara management immediately swung into action and started rescue operations while Additional District Magistrate, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kullu and other district officials rushed to the spot.

Those injured have been admitted to zonal hospital at Kullu and condition of seven of them is stated to be serious.

Source:  http://www.firstpost.com/india/eight-people-killed-after-boulders-h...

Landslide damages 40 houses in Kathua

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/jammu/landslide-damages-40-house...

As many as 40 houses and a government school building were damaged in a landslide at Morha-Chuhara village in Billawar tehsil of Kathua district, following which Congress today demanded that the state government ensures early rehabilitation of the affected people.

"We demand that the government pay compensation to the affected families at par the amount paid in Srinagar, and immediately provide tents, ration and all possible medical help to the landslide-hit people of Morha-Chuhara village in Billawar tehsil," J&K State Congress General Secretary and Former Minister Manohar Lal Sharma said today.

He hit out at the state government and BJP ministers including Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and Health Minister Lal Singh -- both of whom belong to Kathua district, alleging that they had failed to come to their help.

The landslide hit Morha-Chuhara village and Panchayat Uchha Pind in Tehsil Ramkot of Billawar Sub Division in Kathua district yesterday.

As many as 40 houses and one government school building were damaged, Sharma said.

Meanwhile, the residents today blocked Dhar road for three-and-a- half hours at Poungran protesting against the apathy of the local administration and the state government.

Eleven homes evacuated after landslide in Llantrisant, Wales

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-34037503

Eleven homes had to be evacuated following a landslide in Rhondda Cynon Taff.
The slip happened on Heol Y Beiliau in Llantrisant at about 18:10 BST on Sunday.
Head of control at South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Jennie Griffiths, tweeted that debris was "falling into homes and placing pressure on them".
The council said the suspected cause was the collapse of a retaining wall at one of the properties.
Emergency planning and building control officers remained at the scene on Monday morning.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council leader Andrew Morgan said: "As a precautionary measure, emergency services evacuated a number of homes last night, with the residents moving in with friends and family.
"These households have not yet returned to their addresses and council emergency planning officers are meeting with those affected.
"A council structural engineer is also on site to assess the situation."

Massive Rock Collapse in French Alps (Aug 27)

The southeast face of the Tour Ronde suffered two significant landslides on Thursday.

The first rockfall took place at around 8:30am, a second one just over an hour later on the spur a bit to the right of the Normal Route up Tour Ronde.

The Tour Ronde is a massif the Mont Blanc region of the Alps, on the border between France and Italy.

Luckily, no one was killed or injured in the rockfalls.

Source

http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&...

Dorset cliff collapses on to beach – video

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2015/sep/10/dorset-cliff-c...

A cliff in Dorset crumbles in dramatic fashion on to the beach below. Fisherman Sam Haskins, 24, caught the moment on camera, near Westcliff in Portland, Dorset, on Wednesday. There had been numerous reports of the footpath breaking up, so he’d taken a walk to see for himself. Local authorities had blocked the footpath to restrict public access, but Haskins was able to film from a safe distance

Cliff landslide sees 17 houses cut off in Kerry

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cliff-landslide-sees-17-houses...

Seventeen houses are effectively cut off and have no vehicle access following the landslide which saw serious road slippage on the cliffside in the cul-de-sac.

County council area engineers and local councillors were at the scene on what is known as “the Cliff Road” — on a hillside overlooking the Blue Flag beach of Rossbeigh strand and Dingle Bay.

In a statement, the council said while the road had to be closed for safety reasons, it would do all it could to facilitate pedestrians.
An application for emergency funding is being submitted to the Department of Transport, Tourism, and Sport to help provide an alternative access.

The houses, a mix of residential and holiday homes, have been sounding warning bells for some time about the threat of erosion from waves at the base of the cliff, winds, and frost. The road was already vulnerable and had slipped in the storms of 2014.

Heavy rainfall over the weekend saw the Cliff Road slip a further 3.6m on Tuesday, making it impossible for vehicular access.

Local councillor Michael Cahill said the people were effectively cut off and could only reach their houses on foot.

He said he had called on the Office of Public Works for some years to address the issue of erosion, but he said he felt his calls had not been taken seriously.

“The situation has gone from bad to worse. I am calling on Minister Simon Harris to provide proper funding for coastal protection,” Mr Cahill said.

http://strangesounds.org/2015/09/giant-crack-peru-state-of-emergenc...

Dozens rescued in B.C. landslides

http://www.cbc.ca/news/dozens-rescued-in-b-c-landslides-1.3238352

Residents of Birken, north of Pemberton, B.C., where a mudslide took place Sunday, have been put on evacuation alert as renewed heavy rains threaten the safety of their homes.

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District issued the evacuation alert for 38 properties Thursday, noting that "following the mudslide, and in light of the rainfall predicted, the risk of debris and flooding in the vicinity of Birken presents a potential danger to life, safety and property."

A mudslide caused by heavy rains closed off several roads throughout the Sea-to-Sky region on Sunday.

In Lillooet, 50 campers were airlifted out to Pemberton. Closer to Squamish, seven people were airlifted on Sunday and another 28 were able to drive out on Monday when a back road was cleared for them to pass.

Nearby resident Michelle Molnar, who lives in the Birken neighbourhood, said she could hear the landslide a kilometre from her home.

"You could hear it rumbling at the top — it would come down, snake through the little drench that it built and end up taking out trees and big boulders. Super loud," said Molnar.

Fatal landslip hits Guatemala

http://www.euronews.com/2015/10/02/fatal-landslip-hits-guatemala/

At least seven people have been killed after a rain-soaked hillside collapsed on a neighborhood on the outskirts of Guatemala’s capital.

WATCH: landslide sees "hundreds of tons" fall onto North Devon beach as safety warning issued

http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/8203-WATCH-landslide-sees-hundre...

DRAMATIC video and pictures show a landslide of "hundreds of thousands of tons" at cliffs in Lynmouth as the coastguard warns people to stay away.

Sunday morning saw the landslide on the cliffs at Sillery Sands which Lynmouth Coastguard Search and Rescue said "swamped probably an eighth of the beach".

A statement from the Coastguard warned people to stay away.

It said: "The Cliff at Sillery remains very unstable, Sunday morning saw a landslide of hundreds of thousands of tons which has swamped probably an eighth of the beach, this not a safe place to be.

NZ: Sudden landslip still moving

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=...

A massive drop-out on State Highway 4 happened so quickly it was lucky no vehicles were swept away by it, says Higgins worker Paul Seconi.

It's his job to guard the ever-expanding drop-out that has closed a lane of the highway just south of Upokongaro.

Mr Seconi said the slip opened up a couple of weeks ago and began as a small crack in the road.

"A truckie noticed a crack in the road about 5am and by 9am this side of the road had gone," Mr Seconi said.

Higgins staff were keeping a round-the-clock watch on the drop-out as it was still moving.

As well, large cracks were appearing in the road near the drop-out.

Mr Seconi said if the drop-out ate further into the road, both lanes would have to close.

The drop-out was most likely caused by weakening of the land due to underground water that came down from nearby hills during floods in June.

Next week construction will begin on a temporary stretch of road, about 100m long, that will be made in farmland next to the road. That would help keep traffic away from the drop-out.

"The farmer will lose a bit of his paddock, but it's only temporary and he'll get it back," Mr Seconi said.

He estimated the road would take about a year to fix.

http://www.thenewsteller.com/pakistan/13-dead-including-seven-child...

13 dead including seven children in Karachi landslide incident

KARACHI: Thirteen people including seven children were dead in area of Gulistan-e-Jauhar in Karachi on Tuesday.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34513853

Pakistan landslide kills 13 in Karachi

• 13 October 2015
• The rockslide crushed homes on a plot of land carved out of a hill

A rare rockslide in Pakistan's city of Karachi has hit several makeshift homes, killing 13 people including seven children, officials say.

The landslide struck early on Tuesday, burying homes in Gulistan Johar district under a mass of rock and mud.

Rescue workers are using mechanical tools to clear the rubble.

Police and officials are investigating the cause of the landslip, including the possibility of sabotage by land grabbers, reports say.

Landslides are rare in Karachi, where most of the land is mud and sand - but the huts appeared to be part of a slum situated on land that had been flattened by cutting off the side of a ridge, the BBC's Ilyas Khan in Islamabad reports.

California mudslide could take MONTHS to clear with hundreds of cars and trucks STILL buried in 6ft 'river of mud'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3277645/California-mudslide...

Devastation caused by mudslides in California could take months to clear up with hundreds of cars and lorries still stuck in 6ft-deep dirt.
Violent storms struck northern Los Angeles Thursday, causing a rolling river of mud to engulf vehicles on major trucking routes and flow into people's homes.
Families spoke of the terrifying moments they were forced to clamber onto their car roofs as rising floodwater flowed into their cars, with children telling parents that they thought they were going to die.
No one was injured or killed in the chaos, but California now faces a grueling clean-up operation which could take months, officials said.
Kerjon Lee, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Public Works, said crews needed to clear out 20,000 dump trucks worth of dirt and rocks left on major roads, which could take months.
He added that 50 field personnel and more than 30 pieces of heavy equipment were on the ground in the small mountain communities of Elizabeth Lake and Lake Hughes in Leona Valley, about 40 miles north of Los Angeles.
Homeowners spent most of their Saturday shoveling mud out of their homes, with one property destroyed and the possibility of more having to be knocked down because of damage.
Gary and Gina Hartle, who own a 70-acre horse ranch in Lake Hughes, said they had no idea how long it would take to repair their home.
'Our property is 75 percent devastated,' Mrs Hartle, 54, said. 'We can't access our homes too well right now because everything is washed out.'
She said the two homes on the land seemed like they were fine, but that one of the homes was without water because of an inundated pump, and their 20-foot trailer is nowhere in sight.
'It either got buried or it's downriver,' she said.

Deadly landslide hits Karenni village in Myanmar

https://www.mnnonline.org/news/deadly-landslide-hits-karenni-christ...

Myanmar (MNN/VBB) — Eight days ago, heavy rains came as another blow to the village of Mawchi in Kayah State, Myanmar.

Already dealing with the country’s worst floods in 100 years, which struck from late July to August, the deluge caused a river to flood a bridge, wash out roads, and slow down emergency personnel dealing with deadly landslides in the area. Local authorities are relocating those living in disaster-hit areas to relief camps.

Dyann Romeijn, a spokeswoman for Vision Beyond Borders, says, “It’s in a village that our contacts work with, out of the refugee camps, and it’s predominantly a Christian village. I believe that there are 792 victims that are now displaced that are staying in a church, a middle school, an old hospital, and a high school.”Myanmar (MNN/VBB) — Eight days ago, heavy rains came as another blow to the village of Mawchi in Kayah State, Myanmar.

Already dealing with the country’s worst floods in 100 years, which struck from late July to August, the deluge caused a river to flood a bridge, wash out roads, and slow down emergency personnel dealing with deadly landslides in the area. Local authorities are relocating those living in disaster-hit areas to relief camps.

Dyann Romeijn, a spokeswoman for Vision Beyond Borders, says, “It’s in a village that our contacts work with, out of the refugee camps, and it’s predominantly a Christian village. I believe that there are 792 victims that are now displaced that are staying in a church, a middle school, an old hospital, and a high school.”

Pictured: The incredible moment a massive section of mountain breaks off and plummets 1,000 feet, destroying the forest below

• The footage was captured by a geologist who just happened to be filming
• 2,000 cubic metres of rock fell and caused an avalanche on the mountain
• Major movement was detected prior to rockfall and hamlet was evacuated
• Rockfall tore a path through trees and the noise echoed around the valley

By JAKE POLDEN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 07:53 EST, 23 October 2015 | UPDATED: 13:14 EST, 23 October 2015

This is the incredible moment a huge piece of rock broke free from the side of a mountain and plummeted 1,000 feet in Switzerland.

The incredible footage was captured by a geologist who just happened to be filming when the rock fall occurred on a mountain in the Swiss Alps.

According to local reports the 2,000 cubic metres of solid rock that fell caused an avalanche on the mountain of Mel de la Niva, near Evolene. 

Geologists studying the mountain had noted geological activity prior to the incident and the site had been under surveillance since 2013, reported Le Nouvelliste.

Major movements were detected last week and the hamlet of Arbey and a road below the mountain had been evacuated and shut the day before. 

The noise from the rockfall was said to have echoed around the valley, as the debris rained down on the mountain, tearing a path through the trees and destroying the forested slopes.

There were no reported injuries resulting from the incident however.

Since being posted to YouTube the clip has been viewed 100,000 times and a number of users have shared their thoughts.

One person wrote: 'Unbelievable someone was actually there for that, and was recording. Thousands of years of waiting, 30 seconds of action, and we got it on film.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3286195/Incredible-moment-H... 

Another Massive Landslide on Yukon's Mt Steele (Oct 11)

45 million tons of rock, snow and ice came thundering off Mount Steele, a 5,067 metre peak in the remote icefields of the St. Elias Mountains, in Kluane National Park and Reserve on October 11.

The debris — which NASA compared to the weight of approximately 700 aircraft carriers — fell approximately one kilometre and slid about twice that distance on the Steele glacier.

This is the second significant slide in the area in less than a decade. A 2007 slide on Mount Steele is considered one of the largest known landslides in western Canada.

The recent landslide was discovered by Goran Ekstrom, a seismologist and professor at Columbia University who tracks seismic data worldwide.

The force of millions of tons of rock and ice coming off the mountain caused seismic waves measuring similar to a magnitude 5 earthquake, he says.

"It's actually a very large event. We don't have a full list of large landslides, but I would say this will be in the top 10 of 2015. Worldwide," said Ekstrom. "It might even be higher up on the list."

He says the scientific community doesn't know if there is a "special condition" with Mount Steele that caused two significant events in a short period of time. He says, although ground shaking can case landslides, there were no earthquakes in the region the day of this slide, nor were there other obvious triggers.

Sources

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/mount-steele-landslide-2015-1.3...

http://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2015/10/20/mount-steele-rock-ava...

http://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2015/10/19/first-announcement-a-...

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/famous-rock-formatio...

Famous sea arch rock formation collapses in Nova Scotia

Thursday, October 22, 2015, 10:54 AM - A famous Nova Scotia landmark has literally disappeared overnight, prompting locals and visitors to wonder, what happened to the 'hole'?

People have long flocked to admire the iconic sea arch, also known as the 'eye' on Long Island in the Minas Basin.

But when nearby residents awoke Tuesday morning, they discovered the rock formation had dramatically changed overnight.

The hole was gone.

"I looked out the window this morning and I had to look twice," Harold Nesbitt told the CBC. Nesbitt and his wife recently moved to a waterfront home in the area because of the view it offered of the Five Islands, which includes Long Island.

The opening in the rock face was large enough that kayakers and boaters could pass through it during high tide. The circular hole served as a pass through from the Minas Basin into the Bay of Fundy, the site of the highest tides in the world. 

Just a few weeks ago, the highest tides in 18 years were recorded in the area. Some speculate that this event, combined with the effects of strong, seaside winds and erosion over time likely led to the opening's collapse.

While the Minas Basin remains a popular destination for those seeking to admire ocean views and unique landscapes, the sea arch will be sorely missed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3295052/Run-life-Dramatic-f...

Run for your life: Dramatic footage shows Mexican landslide wiping out a busy road as foundations under 'illegal' tower block give way

• The massive landslide happened in the Santa Fe district of Mexico City
• The cliff face under two illegally-built tower blocks slid into the valley 
• Local council officials said the flats did not have any planning permission
• Luckily no one was killed by the rock slide which damaged 15 cars  

This is the incredible moment a huge landslide in Mexico was caught on video.

At least 15 cars were damaged as six thousand cubic metres of earth crashed onto the road below.

Amazingly, the landslide did not bring down two tower blocks and a private house built precariously near the cliff edge as the ground collapsed underneath them.

Householders in two Mexican tower blocks had a lucky escape after the cliff face underneath their homes collapsed leaving the properties which were built without planning permission only a few feet from disaster

Bystanders videoed the landside as thousands of tonnes of debris hurtled down the side of the cliff

But shocked drivers and pedestrians below meanwhile tried to flee the debris, and the huge dust cloud that followed.

The dramatic incident happened in Santa Fe, one of the major business districts of Mexico City, located in the west part of the Mexican capital city.

Parts of the video were taken from the other side of the valley, on dashboard cameras and mobile phones, and they were all uploaded onto social media where they quickly went viral.

Officials say people living in the apartment buildings were told there was a risk of landslide back in 2007, but ignored their warnings.

The authorities of Cuajimalpa, one of the 16 boroughs of Mexico City to which Santa Fe belongs, also said they had previously advised the inhabitants to abandon the buildings fearing they would fall if there was a landslide.

Huge Earth Crack Caused by Landslide in Wyoming

http://www.dailytimesgazette.com/huge-earth-crack-caused-by-landsli...

A rural area nearby Ten Sleep, Northcentral Wyoming was discovered to have a huge crack on the ground. Experts and geologists highly believe that it is caused by a landslide that happened in the area but no one could have witness the event happening.

Photos of the crack were seen by Chamois Andersen, representative of Wyoming State Geological Survey saying that there is clear evidence that the crack is all anecdotal.

“It appears this may be due to groundwater has created weakness in what is already a saturated hillside. Further saturation like a wet spring and summer leads to more weakness, then the hillside shifted and caused a landslide with an associated large crack,” said Andersen.

They highly advise that people should stay as far as possible from the site as it is still considered an active landslide site that poses risk to human life.

Andersen believes that the landslide could have occurred in a gradual period of one to two weeks time.

Geologists estimate the size of the crack to be about 750 yards in length and 50 yards in width.

Even hunter Randy Becker was surprised to see the site in actual and even took photos as remembrance. He said that, “I was stunned. The magnitude of this shift in earth is dramatic. It blows you away to see it.”

‘Catastrophe’: At least 17 killed, 45 missing, town leveled by flood in Brazil dam collapse

https://www.rt.com/news/320974-brazil-dam-mining-collapse/

READ MORE: Buried under sea of mud: Aerial footage shows Brazilian ...

At least 17 people have been killed in the disaster, AFP reported citing firefighters.

The dam burst near a working mine in a rural area located about 300 kilometers (185 miles) from Rio de Janeiro, AP reported, citing a statement published by the city hall of Mariana.

Witnesses told local media that the town of Bento Rodrigues, with a population of 620 people, has been completely flooded by mud.

“An avalanche of liquid waste destroyed houses, a school, a church, a medical center, carried away vehicles. Many families have been left homeless and are waiting for news about their loved ones. The emergency work is hampered by the fact that the flooded areas are only accessible via helicopters. This is one of the saddest scenes I ever had to witness,” the local health ministry head of Minas Gerais state, Juliano Duarte, was quoted as saying by TASS.

Rescue teams are on site looking for survivors. The exact number of dead and injured is still unknown.

The Iron and Metals Extraction Union said that between 15 and 16 people have been killed and 45 remain missing. 

Sniffer dogs have been sent to the area to help search for the missing people.

Photos and videos from the scene posted on social media show devastation on a large-scale, with houses and vehicles flooded in a pool of mud. Authorities say mudslides are still a risk.

People living around the dam were instructed to evacuate and seek safety on higher ground.

The mine’s owner, Samarco mining company, confirmed the break in a statement, adding that toxic waste from mining operations had been leaked. It also promised to minimize the damage to local residents and the environment.

This could be the worst dam burst in the country’s history, media reported, citing a government committee dealing with dams. Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Brito, Environmental Prosecutor of Minas Gerais’s Public Ministry, described the accident as “catastrophic.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3307309/Rescuers-desperatel...

Two British holidaymakers presumed dead after being buried alive by 7,000 cubic feet of rock and dirt while visiting popular waterfall attraction in Bulgaria

• Two British tourists have been buried in a rockslide in northern Bulgaria
• The pair, along with a local companion, were hit while walking on a path
• Emergency services have been working at the scene of the incident today
• But the couple are presumed dead after being buried alive at the tourist site

Two British holidaymakers were tonight presumed dead after they were buried alive under an avalanche of stone as they posed for a photograph at a waterfalls in Bulgaria.

Rescue workers attempted to dig out the couple, thought to be in their thirties, who became trapped when around 7,000 cubic feet of rock came down, but they could not be found.

The man and woman were having their picture taken on a bridge at the remote mountain beauty spot in northern Bulgaria at around midday when the rockslide occurred.

+7

Rescue workers at the site of the Bulgarian waterfall at which two British holidaymakers are presumed dead after being buried alive under an avalanche of stone

+7

The pair were walking beside the Krushuna Waterfalls (pictured) in Bulgaria today when an avalanche of rock and dirt tumbled down on top of them. Their companion, a local, managed to escape and raise the alarm

Locals said they were on a section of the iron bridge by a cave when a large section of the overhanging rock above them suddenly came crashing down.

Viktor Dzhonev, who runs a guest house near the Krushuna falls in Letnitsa province, told the Mail: ‘The man and woman were under the cliffs. Another woman was taking a picture of them with a camera when it happened.

‘A small piece of rock hit her but she got away. The couple were buried.’

Insane moment unfazed onlookers stand a stone's throw away from a massive landslide as it engulfs the road

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3311967/Insane...

A shocking video has emerged of a massive landslide ripping up trees and completely blocking a road as onlookers stood just a few feet away taking pictures and filming the event.

The landslide took place yesterday at a section of the 210 National Road in Hanzhong city, central China’s Shaanxi Province, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded, reports The People’s Daily Online.

As tonnes of mud and rock tumbled down the mountain, the people in the video seem completely unfazed by the fact that they are just a few feet away from being crushed.
The 80-second amateur footage shows a close-up of the mountain as large quantities of mud and rock start to fall onto the road, bringing trees with them.

Some of the rocks looked like huge boulders as they rolled down a hill.

These were followed by large trees, still standing tall, as they slid down the mountain along with the mud as if they’ve just been simply picked up and swept away.

As the footage progressed, the mountain started sliding down faster and huge chunks of earth were picked up and thrown onto the road.
When the camera zooms out, about 20 people could be seen standing on the road just watching as it is being engulfed right in front of them.

They do not seem to be scared as even though they are just a few feet away from the threat of death.

More than 350,000 cubic feet of soil and stone fell down from the hill, covering over 320 feet of the road below.

Traffic in the area was badly interrupted, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded.

It is thought the landslide was caused by the rain from a few days earlier as the area has been experiencing several landslides recently.

Clean up work has begun to unblock the road and traffic disruptions will be expected over the next week.

www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Landslide-closes-A386-near-Great-Torri...

Landslide closes A386 near Great Torrington after 30 tons of soil and stone plunge onto road

• 

A landslide was reported to have brought down five large trees and up to 30 tons of earth on to a main road through Devon.

The incident was reported in the early hours of this morning when the A386 was closed following the incident near Beam Quarry on the road between Great Torrington and Landcross.

Diversions were put in place as early morning commuters made their way to work.

A digger was brought in to start to move the mounds of soil and stone, while the trees were cut up and moved.

Hugh Griffith, highway operations control centre manager for Devon County Council, posted a tweet this morning on social media, saying: “A386 Beam Quarry closure a 30 ton bank slip has brought down 5 large trees, 3 cut up & moved, digger starting to move soil/stone.”

He added: “#Devon Near Torrington, the A386 is closed at Beam Quarry due to a landslide. Diversions are in place (via @hughHocc).”

Motorists are being diverted via Landcross on the A388, via Frithelstock and Rakeham Hill.

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Landslide-closes-A386-near-Grea... 

Landslide in eastern China buries homes, leaving casualties and people missing

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/landslide-in-eastern-chin...

The death toll from a landslide that buried homes in eastern China has risen to 16 people with 21 others still missing, a local government said Sunday.

A torrent of mud and rocks unleashed by heavy rains buried nearly 30 homes in a village in Zhejiang province on Friday night. Four people had previously been confirmed dead.

The Lishui city government, which administers Lidong village where the landslide happened, said that 16 bodies had been found as well as one survivor, who was in stable condition.

http://www.wdam.com/story/30572549/california-road-buckles-due-to-l...

California road buckles due to landslide

Posted: Nov 20, 2015 5:59 PM EST Updated: Nov 20, 2015 5:59 PM EST

(CNN) - A California road is closed after a landslide caused it to buckle.

A 150-foot stretch of Vasquez Canyon Road near Santa Clara changed Thursday after just a few hours.

In some places, the street rose more than 6 feet. Cracks could be seen along the damaged area and officials say they continue to expand and rise.

No homes or buildings are in the immediate area.

The road is closed while public works engineers and geologists investigate the damage.

After the landslide profoundly buckled the 150-foot section of Vasquez Canyon Road between Lost Canyon Road and Vasquez Way in Santa Clarita, skateboarders eager for a severe test descended on the area.

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2015/11/26/skateboarders-descen...

At least 90 dead in huge jade mine landslide in Myanmar, officials say

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-22/at-least-90-dead-in-jade-mine...

At least 90 people have been killed in a huge landslide while searching for precious jade in a remote mining area of northern Myanmar, officials say.

"We found 79 dead bodies on November 21 (and) 11 today so the total so far is 90," said Nilar Myint, an official from the local administrative authorities in Hpakant, northern Kachin state.

Nilar Myint added that the rescue operation was ongoing.

The massive landslide crushed dozens of flimsy shanty huts clustered on the barren landscape, where an unknown number of itinerant workers had made their homes in the hope of finding precious stone.

"We are seeing only dead bodies and no-one knows how many people live there," Nilar Myint said, adding that only one person had been pulled alive from the rubble, but had died soon after.

The Global New Light of Myanmar earlier reported that at least 30 dead bodies were retrieved from the landslide site, quoting local officials and media reports.

Rescuers battled to dig through the mountains of loose rubble at the site on Sunday, with fears that the toll could rise further.

It is the latest deadly accident to affect Myanmar's secretive multi-billion-dollar jade industry in war-torn Kachin.

Those killed were thought to have been scavenging through a mountain of waste rubble dumped by mechanical diggers used by the mining firms in the area to extract Myanmar's most valuable precious stone.

Landslides are a common hazard in the area as people living off the industry's waste, driven by the hope that they might find a chunk of jade worth thousands of dollars, pick their way across perilous mounds under cover of darkness.

Scores have been killed this year alone as local people say the mining firms, many of which are linked to the country's junta-era military elite, have scaled up their operations in Kachin.

Myanmar is the source of virtually all of the world's finest jadeite, an almost translucent green stone that is prized above almost all other materials in neighbouring China.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3327255/Force-nature...

Force of nature: Breathtaking footage captures the moment an enormous glacier collapses sending an avalanche of ice and rock down a mountain

• Ryan Taylor was in Mount Cook National Park when rocks began to tumble
• After 30 seconds of falling, a massive block of ice dislodges and breaks up
• Chunks of rock, snow and ice thunder down mountain and flow like a river

This is the breathtaking moment an enormous glacier collapsed just inches from a skier to send thousands of tonnes of rock, snow and ice thundering down a mountain.

Ryan Taylor, 22, who was seconds away from skiing down the slope in Mount Cook National Park in New Zealand, watched as rocks beneath the ice began to break free and fall.

The amateur adventure photographer filmed 30 seconds of tumbling rubble before one large block of ice dislodged, smashing into a thousand pieces and plummeting down the mountain.

Rocks below the ice began to break free and small pieces tumbled down the mountain for around 30 seconds

The video shows more chunks of ice cascading to the bottom as Ryan watches in amazement at the incredible natural spectacle taking place in front of him.

Later in the clip Ryan points the camera at the thousands of tonnes of rock and ice flowing down the steep decline like a raging river.

As he is filming, Ryan can be heard saying: 'I don't know if I want to go down there anymore. It is huge, it is just flying. It is like a liquid.

'The snow line is now lowering so I guess we can ski further down.' Adding: 'It is still flowing down there, crazy. The mountainside is going to collapse.'

A large block of ice dislodges, smashes into a thousand pieces and plummets down the mountain

Ryan captured the footage of the incredible glacier collapse, which is known as a serac fall, from the Whymper Saddle pass in Mount Cook National Park on November 9.

The amateur photographer from Christchurch, New Zealand, said: 'After weaving through crevasses and ice fall we were glad to relax on the high ground of Whymper Saddle.

'Our map suggested good skiing terrain below us. Looking down into the valley it was obvious our intended ski line was threatened by a few dangers.

'The large mass of loose rock and ice was a big concern along with the rapidly warming temperatures increasing the risk of avalanches.

'While we were talking the amount of rock fall began to steadily increase.

'It looked as if something was going to happen so I started filming. The collapse was quite loud sounding similar to the ocean crashing on a rocky coastline.

'Rock and ice mixed into a massive slurry that gouged its way down the mountain at impressive speed.

'The avalanche slowed down, spread out, adding its mass to the glacier below. It was cool to see up close and was a spectacular natural process.' 

Landslide Prompts Evacuations in Kfarnabrakh Mt. Lebanon LEBANON

Nov. 30, 2015

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/195768

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2015/Nov-30/325241-la...

VIDEO FROM LINK : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ3AZB3k2CQ

The Daily Star

A landslide in a Mount Lebanon village Monday forced people to evacuate their homes in fear of larger collapses, the state-run National News Agency said

Panicked residents evacuated their homes Monday after a landslide hit the outskirts of the town of Kfarnabrakh in the Chouf region.

“Very dangerous landslides have occurred in the outskirts of the Chouf town of Kfarnabrakh above the towns of Wadi al-Sitt and al-Fowara,” stare-run National News Agency said.

Residents took to Twitter to publish photos of the landslide.

MAP: https://www.google.com.ar/maps/place/Kfarnabrakh+Municipality/@33.6...!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xabe5c6570c872ca8

Watch: Massive landslide in Manali, National Highway blocked

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/watch-massi...

The vehicular traffic on the road came to a halt and hundreds of vehicles were stranded on either side of the blockades.

The Kiratpur-Manali National Highway was on Monday blocked due to a massive landslide near Hanogi in Mandi district of Himachal, about 180 Km from here. The vehicular traffic on the road came to a halt and hundreds of vehicles were stranded on either side of the blockades.
Additional District Magistrate Mandi Vivek Chandel said the Public Works Department (PWD) has pressed its teams into action to clear the blockade by deploying heavy machinery and JCBs. “Some breakthrough was made around this evening and some of the light vehicles were allowed to cross the damaged road portion but shooting stone from the mountain compelled the authorities to stop movement of the vehicles as this posed a grave risks to the lives of the passengers”, he told the Indian Express over phone. “Huge boulders suddenly started rolling down and within minutes the entire hill-lock came down sliding but fortunately no vehicle was crossing the road at that point of time and as such there was no loss of human life,” said state Public Works Department (PWD)officials.

Terrifying moment landslide crashes into roadside houses and pushes them towards busy traffic in China

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3354385/Terrif...

Drivers in Congjiang County, south China were metres away from being flattened when a landslide pushed two houses onto a busy road.

The incident was captured on November 8 by a surveillance camera that looks onto the road, reports The People’s Daily.

Luckily the owners were not at home. They have been relocated and there were no casualties reported.
As the cars are driving, on the left hand side of the footage small pieces of rubble can be seen crumbling from a house.

It only takes 30 seconds before both building collapse creating a huge pile of rubble on the road.

At first, cars drive around the falling rocks, but they soon came to a halt when several people on the street waved their hands and shouted at them to stop.

According to the report, the landslide was caused by continuous rain in the area.

One house was made out of bricks and the other was wooden, the force and weight from the mud and rocks was so strong they both collapsed.

Local authorities and traffic police rushed to the scene as soon as the buildings collapsed, and the road was cordoned off for traffic control.

Since the incident, dangerous areas have been blocked off and experts are continuously monitoring the activity of the mountain where the landslide came from.

Residents are being told not to go near the danger zones and drive carefully.

Catastrophic Lake Drain in Northern Canada (July 2015)

A lake in Canada's NWT burst through its melting embankment and sent tens of thousands of cubic meters of water crashing into a neighboring valley resulting in catastrophic flooding.

In a video released on Wednesday by the territorial government, the lake can be seen breaching a retaining wall weakened by thawing permafrost and dumping half its contents in a waterfall nearly five stories tall.

The drainage from the nameless lake, which is perched in the hills around the arctic hamlet of Fort McPherson, flowed several miles downstream into the Mackenzie River Delta and caused a slow slide of mud and debris that engulfed nearly two kilometers of the nearby landscape.

In June 2015, the NWT Geological Survey released a warning that the lake would fail catastrophically by the end of the year. On July 15, the slumping permafrost that held back the unnamed lake finally gave way.

Sources

https://news.vice.com/article/that-lake-that-was-going-to-fall-off-...

http://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2015/12/14/fort-mcpherson-a-cata...

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2015/12/avalanche-buries-houses-on-sval...

Avalanche buries houses on the Svalbard archipelago in the heart of the Norwegian Arctic: Unkown how many people missing

Several people were injured and several others missing on Saturday (Dec 19) after an avalanche buried about 10 houses on the Svalbard archipelago in the heart of the Norwegian Arctic, local officials said.
"Several people have been injured and hospitalised.
Some people are also missing," the region's government said on its website.
"All available human resources are mobilised for the rescue operation."
A spokesman for the rescue services said four adults and two children were hospitalised but that their injuries were not life threatening.
Around 10 brightly-coloured wooden houses, typical of the style found in the archipelago, were buried by the avalanche which happened at around 11am local time.
Witnesses said the snow had shifted the houses set on hillsides about 20m.
One resident, Ms Kine Bakkeli, told NRK public television that she had managed to escape through a window.
"It's complete chaos here," she said. Rescuers, police and residents using spades raced to clear houses buried under a thick layer of snow in the hope of finding the missing.
It was not known how many people were missing.
A team of doctors was planning to set out from the Norwegian city of Tromso for Longyearbyen, Svalbard's main town.
Emergency accommodation has been set up in a youth centre and the town's church.
Weather conditions have been harsh since Friday with authorities warning people to take care in high winds.

Landslide Buries Buildings in China’s Shenzhen

http://www.wsj.com/articles/landslide-buries-buildings-in-chinas-sh...

At least 18 buildings were buried at an industrial park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Some 22 buildings have collapsed in a landslide at an industrial park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
About 900 people have been evacuated, with four people pulled alive from rubble with minor or no injuries, the local government said. No fatalities have been reported.
Shenzhen's fire brigade said it was working to free other trapped people. At least 27 remain missing.
Two workers' dormitories are among the affected buildings.
Shenzhen's public security bureau posted a notice online saying that eight hours after the landslide, 21 men and six women were unaccounted for, AP reports.
An area of 20,000 sq m (24,000 square yards) was covered with soil, the Public Security Bureau's firefighting bureau said.
Ren Jiguang, the deputy chief of Shenzhen's public security bureau, told state broadcaster CCTV that most people had been moved to safety before the landslide hit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-35144579

Detecting Landslides from a Few Seismic Wiggles (12/18/15)
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/detecting-landslides-few-s...

See ZT quoted on Landslides blog mainpage:
Is there an early warning system that mankind could use? The trembles that soil about to slide emits could be detected, yes. These are not earthquakes, and have their own frequency.
http://zetatalk.com/ning/29mr2014.htm

Article highlights:

A 200 million ton landslide landed on the toe of Tyndall Glacier and in the water of Taan Fiord on Oct. 17 local time in Icy Bay, Alaska. It was detected by seismologists on the other side of the country. (NSF Polar Geospatial Center)

The rumbling started across Icy Bay at around 8:19 p.m. on Oct. 17, 2015. In the span of about 60 seconds, 200 million tons of rock roared down the side of Alaska’s Taan Fiord valley and crashed onto the toe of Tyndall Glacier and into the water, setting off a local tsunami big enough to register at the nearest tidal gauge 155 kilometers away.

No one was near the glacier to witness the massive landslide—the largest detected in North America since the collapse at Mount St. Helens—and it almost went unnoticed. Almost. Its signature appeared almost simultaneously in seismograms monitored by the Global CMT Project at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory on the other side of the country.

Over the last six years, Lamont seismologists Göran Ekström and Colin Stark have been perfecting a technique for picking out the seismic signature of large landslides from the stream of seismic data from earthquakes and other activity around the world. The details they are able to extract could one day help governments sound tsunami warnings, help rescuers find landslide-struck villages faster, and warn of risks such as landslide-dammed rivers that could soon burst through.

When computers detect earthquakes, they look for an abrupt start to seismic activity, typically a sharp, high-frequency burst. Landslides have a different signature that often goes undetected.

“Landslides start very gradually. They grow and they decay over the time period it takes for the mass to go all the way down, so this would be a minute or maybe two,” Ekström said. To pick out landslides, the scientists look for long-period seismic waves—seismic wiggles with a period of 50 seconds or so.

From those waves, Ekström and Stark are now able to discern the size of the landslide, which direction it was moving, its momentum, velocity and acceleration, as well as the precise time that the landslide struck. The data can usually get them within a few kilometers of the precise location, and satellite images—when clouds aren’t obstructing the view—can provide confirmation. Stark presented their new landslide discovery from Taan Fiord and described how they determine the forces involved in greater detail during the American Geophysical Union meeting today in San Francisco.

Comparison of the seismic signatures of a landslide and earthquake from events in the Himalayas on May 5, 2012. (Colin Stark and Göran Ekström)

The team at Lamont has analyzed about 50 massive landslides over the past six years, including several that had never been reported. Landslides associated with earthquakes can be difficult to pick out from all the seismic noise accompanying the slipping fault, but other landslides can be isolated. ...

An island in Taan Fiord, about 10 km from the landslide, shown by satellite in 2014 (left) and a few days after the landslide and tsunami (right). (GeoEye, Colin Stark)

“For the first few years, we were a little reticent to say we detected these giant landslides that no one else had noticed. How could they not notice?” Stark said. “It took us a while to be confident, but from analyzing about 50 of these, we have been able to constrain the physics and get the numbers—momentum, kinetic energy—we get dynamics that are impossible to get any other way. We have improved understanding of the physics of landslides.”

Fatal Landslide in Southern Peru (Dec 22)

A large landslide hit near the town of Tutumbaru on the road between Ayacucho and San Francisco, burying a boom truck and killing the driver. The body of the driver was later recovered but another person has been reported missing.

Approximately 12,000 cubic meters of mud and debris collapsed into the valley below.

Source

http://www.andina.com.pe/agencia/noticia-continua-limpieza-via-ayac...

Massive Landslide in Southern British Columbia (Dec 16)

An earthquake last week in the B.C. Interior may have set off a large-scale landslide in the Whistler backcountry, according to local safety officials.

The slide took place last Wednesday, Dec. 16 on Fingerpost Ridge, a sub-ridge of Mount James Turner, east of Lesser Wedge Mountain. Early analysis indicates the slide was roughly three to four kilometres long and 0.75 kilometres at its widest point.

No threat to the public has been reported, although the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) is urging backcountry users in the area to use caution and be aware of unstable slope conditions.

Ryan Wainwright, emergency manager for the SLRD, said it's likely a 3.6-magnitude earthquake that struck near Kamloops in the early hours of Dec. 16 set off the slide.

"We don't usually dedicate a lot of resources to (geological events) that don't have an impact on people, but I do know that it's an unusual time of year to have a landslide that's triggered by anything other than an earthquake," Wainwright said.

The size of the slide came as a surprise to Whistler avalanche safety expert Wayne Flann.

"I've never seen something like this happen since I've been here, where a huge ridgeline collapses and creates a huge landslide like that," he said. "It's quite a big event."

Source

http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/whistler/officials-say-earthquake-...

Oregon: Landslide buckles Hwy 42, closing road indefinitely

http://koin.com/2015/12/26/landslide-buckles-hwy-42-closing-road-in...

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon Department of Transportation says a landslide has buckled Oregon Highway 42, also known as the Coos Bay-Roseburg Highway.

The Oregonian reports the roadway in southern Oregon is expected to be closed indefinitely near the border of Coos and Douglas counties.

Authorities say the 200-to-300-foot-long slide has covered most of the two-lane state highway with mud and rock.

Jared Castle of the Oregon Department of Transportation says the roadway will be closed for at least a week, but it’s too early to say for certain.

The slide happened on Thursday afternoon on a section that has been involved in an effort to straighten out some severe curves along the Middle Fork of the Coquille River.

Heavy rain this month saturated the ground, defeating efforts at erosion control.

New landslide sweeps through Myanmar jade mine

http://news.yahoo.com/deadly-landslide-hits-myanmar-jade-mine-03533...

Rescuers were searching through mud and rubble on Saturday after a new landslide buried workers -- possibly dozens -- in a remote jade mining region in northern Myanmar, the second such incident in just over a month.

The landslide took place on Friday afternoon in Hpakant, Kachin State, the war-torn area that is the epicentre of Myanmar's secretive billion dollar jade industry.

"The rescue process has now started and we are searching for dead bodies but we can't tell the numbers yet," Nilar Myint, an official from Hpakant Administrative Office, told AFP.

An AFP photographer on the scene said mechanical diggers had been brought in to sift through a huge pile of debris that had slid down a steep hillside.

Locals report as many as 50 people might have been buried by the wall of mud and stones.

But a second official involved in the rescue operation downplayed that number.

 

Miners ride on a truck near a jade mine in Hpakant, Myanmar's Kachin State (AFP Photo/Ye Aung Th …

"According to what officials from nearby villages have told us, just three or four people are missing at the moment," Myo Thet Aung, also from the Hpakant Administrative Office, told AFP.

By mid-afternoon Saturday officials said they still had not found any bodies.

The same area was hit by a massive landslide last month that killed more than 100 people. Locals says dozens more have died throughout the year in smaller accidents.

The region is remote, with little phone coverage and poor roads making it difficult to obtain precise and swift data after such incidents.

Those killed in landslides are mainly itinerant workers who scratch a living picking through the piles of waste left by large-scale industrial mining firms in the hope of stumbling across a previously missed hunk of jade that will deliver them from poverty.

Myanmar is the source of virtually all of the world's finest jadeite, a near-translucent green stone that is enormously prized in neighbouring China, where it is known as the "stone of heaven".

The Hpakant landscape has been turned into a moonscape of environmental destruction as firms use ever-larger diggers to claw the precious stone from the ground.

But while mining firms -- many linked to the junta-era military elite -- are thought to be raking in huge sums, local people complain they are shut off from the bounty.

In an October report, advocacy group Global Witness estimated that the value of Myanmar jade produced in 2014 alone was $31 billion and said the trade might be the "biggest natural resource heist in modern history".

Much of the best jade is thought to be smuggled directly to China.

With little help from authorities, Hpakant community groups have pooled limited resources to help workers injured in the accidents which have become commonplace as the diggers creep closer to villages.

Heroin and methamphetamine are also easily and cheaply available on Hpakant's dusty streets, a side effect of Myanmar's massive narcotics trade.

Locals have launched desperate campaigns to try to persuade Myanmar's quasi-civilian government, which replaced outright military rule in 2015, to force mining firms to curtail their rapidly expanding operations.

But their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept landmark November 8 elections and will form a new government early next year.

But it has not yet outlined any firm plans for the jade trade beyond pledges for a more equitable allocation of profits from the country's natural resources.

Analysts say reform will be difficult given the entrenched military interests in the trade and the remoteness of many of the mines, some of which are in the hands of ethnic rebel fighters.

Huge Jurassic cliff landslide exposes hundreds of prehistoric fossils from 65 million years ago

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/huge-jurassic-cliff-landslide-...

A Jurassic cliff landslide has exposed hundreds of prehistoric fossils from 65 million years ago sparking a rush from hordes of eager fossil hunters.

The huge land mass in the village of Charmouth collapsed into the sea last week, bringing the remains of extinct sea creatures known as ammonites to the surface.

Prized for their intricate spiral shells, ammonites are sea molluscs that became extinct around the same time as the dinosaurs.

Most of the remains discovered are centimetres across, but a few lucky treasure hunters have been unearthing samples measuring a couple of feet in size.
Other fossil hunters are finding fish and marine reptiles that became trapped in layers of mud millions of years ago.

Tony Gill, from the Charmouth Fossil Shop told the Western Morning News: "I looked across the beach the and realised it looked very different.

"It's the biggest fall I've seen down here for years, if not the biggest. Now we need the tide to come in and wash the clay."

Mr Gill said the landslide was so big it would take years before the larger blocks of the 1,000 tons of cliff that had come down were eroded by the sea.

It means that for the foreseeable future, there will be a steady supply of fossils for locals and visitors, some of whom are travelling from hundreds of miles away.

Woman tells how her car was left hanging in mid air after being hit by 100-ton landslide

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/woman-tells-how-car...

JANE Else's Nissan Micra was forced across the road and over the ­barrier, with only snow poles ­stopping it from plunging down the steep embankment.

A WOMAN yesterday told how her car was forced over a barrier by a landslide and left hanging in the air.

Jane Else was driving on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll when 200 tons of rubble came crashing down the hillside.

Her Nissan Micra was forced across the road and over the ­barrier, with only snow poles ­stopping it from plunging down the steep embankment.

The mental health nurse said: “One minute the road was OK and the next it was like a concrete ­barrier appeared out of nowhere.
“The car was forced across the road, turned around and shoved up on the barrier.

“The back end was ­sitting on one of the snow posts. That was the only thing that stopped me going down the glen.”

She was driving to ­collect a friend from ­Glasgow airport at the time of ­Wednesday ­morning’s landslip. The road ­reopened the next day.

Jane, 50, has been recovering at home in Lochgilphead after being released from hospital in Paisley on Hogmanay.

She said: “I’ve been lucky that I’ve only got severe bruising and a hairline fracture to my sternum. I’m very lucky to have survived.”

UK: Teessiders urged to avoid popular coastal route after cliff landslip near Staithes

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/teessiders-urged-av...

Staithes Coastguard warn walkers after large section of the cliff at Port Mulgrave collapsed into sea - Sections of Cleveland Way footpath affected

Teessiders are being urged to stay away from a popular coastal walking route due to a landslip.

Staithes Coastguard has warned those walking on sections of the Cleveland Way footpath to keep away from the coast near Port Mulgrave.

A large section of the cliff has collapsed into the sea on Saturday.

In a statement, the Coastguard said: “We fear there could be further collapses as the coast along the popular long distance walking route is now potentially very unstable, there is currently no access onto the beach at Port Mulgrave.

“Because of these landslips, the surrounding area may well be very unstable.

“We are urging everyone not to cross the cordons or go to the cliff edge further along and try and look down at the collapsed cliff.

Furious commuters face travel chaos after LANDSLIDE at London-bound station

FRUSTRATED rush hour commuters face travel chaos this morning after a LANDSLIDE saw debris fall on to the track at a London-bound station.

Following a landslip at Barnehurst station on Monday evening, trains will not be running on the Bexleyheath line.

Operator Southeastern could not immediately confirm how much rubble fell on to the tracks. 

Some trains have been diverted via Sidcup and Woolwich Arsenal. 

A very limited bus replacement service is running on Southeastern between Dartford and Lewisham via Bexleyheath.

This is not the first time a landslide has caused travel chaos in Barnehurst. In 2014, all services were suspended as Network Rail carried out emergency repair work. 

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/633753/Landslide-Barnehurst-statio...

http://www.worldnewsenespanol.com/309_hispanic-world/3557719_mudsli...

Mudslide ruptures gas pipeline in central Bolivia

A natural gas pipeline. EFE/File

La Paz, Jan 12 (EFE).- A mudslide triggered by torrential rains ruptured a gas pipeline in Cochabamba, a region in central Bolivia, but the leak has been controlled, state-owned oil company YPFB said Tuesday.

The leak occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday, YPFB CEO Guillermo Acha said in a Twitter post.

An alert was declared on the Carrasco-Cochabamba pipeline due to the drop in pressure, "which immediately activated the closing of the valves," Acha said.

Domestic gas supplies in western Bolivia will not be affected because although volumes will drop while repairs are being done, "transportation is being optimized" via the gas pipeline that runs into the highlands, YPFB said.

Two 26-person emergency teams will be deployed all day in the area where the mudslide occurred.

Two people were killed when a vehicle crashed into the Carrasco-Cochabamba pipeline in Cochabamba on Nov. 28.

The crash damaged the pipeline and a fuel spill was contained in the hours after the accident.