Wednesday 4 July 2018

Landslide kills five pilgrims in Ganderbal District, Jammu and Kashmir.

Five pilgrims were killed ad several more injured when they were hit by a landslide near the Amarnath Cave Shrine in Ganderbal District, Jammu and Kashmir, on Tuesday 3 July 2018. The incident occurred following heavy rains in the area associated with the onset of the Monsoon Season, which in Jammu and Kashmir typically lasts from July to September. Landslides are common during the monsoon season in Nepal, which lasts from May to September, with  the highest rainfall occurring in July. 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. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.

 Rescue workers carrying the body of a landslide victim off a mountain in Jammu and Kashmir on 3 July 2018. JK Breaking News.

Monsoons are tropical sea breezes triggered by heating of the land during the warmer part of the year (summer). Both the land and sea are warmed by the Sun, but the land has a lower ability to absorb heat, radiating it back so that the air above landmasses becomes significantly warmer than that over the sea, causing the air above the land to rise and drawing in water from over the sea; since this has also been warmed it carries a high evaporated water content, and brings with it heavy rainfall. In the tropical dry season the situation is reversed, as the air over the land cools more rapidly with the seasons, leading to warmer air over the sea, and thus breezes moving from the shore to the sea (where air is rising more rapidly) and a drying of the climate. This situation is particularly intense in South Asia, due to the presence of the Himalayas. High mountain ranges tend to force winds hitting them upwards, which amplifies the South Asian Summer Monsoon, with higher winds leading to more upward air movement, thus drawing in further air from the sea. 

 Diagrammatic representation of wind and rainfall patterns in a tropical monsoon climate. Geosciences/University of Arizona.
 
See also...

https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/01/swedish-tourist-killed-by-avalanche-in.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/seven-missing-after-avalanche-in-jammu.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/magnitude-46-earthquake-in-jammu-and.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/seven-conformed-deaths-as-heavy-rains.html
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/landslide-at-hindu-shrine-kills-at.htmlhttp://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/landslide-kills-four-in-jammu-in-kashmir.html
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