At least 19 people have been killed in landslides and flooding along the border between the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, associated with the monsoon rains this week. On the Pakistani side of the border three soldiers were killed and three more injured when they were hit by a mudslide near Bagh on Thursday 4 September 2014, while three people are reported to have been swept away by swollen rivers. In India an officer with the Border Security Force was killed when the bunker he was in was buried by a landslide near Mandi in Poonch District. In a separate incident five members of the same family, including three children, were killed after landslide hit their house in Reasi District, on Wednesday 3 September, and a further five people are reported to have died in flooding.
Landslip near Bagh in Azad Jammu and Kashmir that killed three Pakistani soldiers and injured three more. Shabbir Mir/The Express Tribune.
Peak monsoon season in Jammu and Kashmir falls in July and August, when rainfall often exceeds 650 mm per month in many areas. September is typically drier, with rainfall tailing off over the month, but is still high at the beginning. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. The Jammu and Kashmir region is extremely prone to landslides, due to a number of active faults in the area, these being driven by the northward movement of the Indian Plate, which is pushing into Eurasia at a rate of 40 mm a year. This causes earthquakes on both plates, as well as the folding and uplift that has created the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau.
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