At least eight dead following landslide in Chongqing, China.

Eight people are known to have died and thirty four people are missing following a landslide in Pengshui County in the Chongqing Municipality of China on Friday 17 July 2026. The incident took place at about 9.10 am local time, and caused about 18 000 m³ of rock and soil (including boulders up to 3000 m³) to shift, burying ten residential buildings. Around 1100 people have been evacuated from the area around the incident, with water, electricity, and gas supplies cut off from buildings within 1 km of the landslide as a precaution. Around 800 rescue workers have been deployed to the site, with ten people dug out of the rubble so far, two of whom are described as being in a serious condition in hospital.

The scene of a landslide which killed at least eight people in Chongqing, China, on 17 July 2026. AFP.

The incident happened during heavy rains associated with the summer monsoon, with 192 mm of rain falling overnight before the landslide. 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. 

However, local authorities have also noted that the area where the landslide occurred is noted for its 'unpredictable' geology, with the Wujiang River cutting through uplifted an karst (eroded limestone) terrain with steep-sided valleys and many cliffs prone to major rockfalls. 

Rescue workers surveying the site of the 17 July 2026 Chongqing landslide from a nearby bridge. Andy Wong/Associated Press.

Chongqing has a subtropical climate with a rainy season running from mid April to mid October, though rain falls year round. Rainfall is typically highest in June when the area often receives over 200 mm of rainfall. July is drier, but typically still has over 180 mm of rain. Prior to Human settlement, the area was largely covered by forests, with a cool temperate deciduous forest during the last Pleistocene glaciation being replaced by a broad-leafed evergreen forest in the Holocene. However, Chongquing is now one of the most densely populated areas of China, which has led to the loss of much of this forest, the roots of which would have helped to bind soils on steep-sided slopes, leaving areas such as the Wujiang River valleys exposed to heightened landslide risks, and often heavily populated.

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