Over a thousand people feared dead following landslide in the Darfur Region of Sudan.

Over a thousand people are feared to have died following a landslide which hit the village of Tarseen in the Mara Mountains in the Dafur Region of Sudan on Sunday 31 August 2025. The village is reported to have been completely destroyed by the landslide, with only a single known survivor having been found by local rescue teams. A United Nations humanitarian team in Sudan estimates that the village has a permanent population of about 370 people, however the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, a rebel group fighting for independence for Darfur which is the effective authority in the region, has claimed that as over a thousand people may have died, as about 300 families internally displaced by fighting within the region had taken shelter in the remote village.

Local rescue teams searching for survivors following a landslide which destroyed the village of Tarseen in the Darfur Region of Sudan on 31 August 2025. Sudan Liberation Movement/Army/AFP/Getty Images.

The landslide occurred following weeks of heavy rain in the region, associated with the annual wet season of southern Sudan. 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. The annual wet season lasts from June to September, and with rain typically falling in a series of extended very heavy rainfall events. This makes the region extremely prone to landslides and flooding, something compounded by the country's week infrastructure and frequent civil conflicts, which make its population extremely vulnerable to such events. Such extreme weather events have become worse in recent years, driven by rising global temperatures, something which is also causing increased aridity in the drier north of the country, further fuelling internal conflicts as different populations compete for resources. 

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Fifteen confirmed deaths following landslide in the Republic of Guinea.

Fifteen people have now been confirmed dead following a landslide which hit the Manéah area of the town of Coyah, in the Kindea Region of the Republic of Guinea, about 50 km to the east of the capital, Conakry, at about 7.00 pm local time on Wednesday 20 August 2025. A further ten people are being treated in hospitals for serious injuries, and the number of deaths is expected to rise.The incident happened following heavy rains associated with the West African rainy season. Landslides are a common problem after severe weather, 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 operations in Manéah following a landslide on Wednesday 20 August 2025. Journal Horoya/AP.

West Africa has a distinct two season climatic cycle, with a cool dry season during the northern winter when prevalent winds blow from the Sahara to the northeast, and a warm rainy season during the northern summer when prevalent winds blow from the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. These warm winds from the Atlantic are laden with moisture, which can be lost rapidly when the air encounters cooler conditions, such as when it is pushed up to higher altitudes by the mountains of the Fouta Djallon in Guinea.

Rainfall and prevalent winds during the West African dry and rainy seasons. Encyclopedia Britanica.

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One person missing after Swiss village burried beneath landslide.

One person has been reported missing following a landslide in the Swiss canton of Valais which has covered about 90% of the village of Blatten in the Lötschental Valley with rubble and debris on Wednesday 28 May 2025. The landslide occurred after a part of the Birch Glacier broke off, allowing rock held behind it to tumble onto the village. The village had been evacuated since 19 May, when geologists identified that part of the mountain behind the glacier had started to move, following a detected increase in movement from the glacier itself. The missing person has been identified as a man aged 64, but no further details have been given.

Debris covering the village of Blatten in the Lötschental Valley in the canton of Valais, Switzerland, following a landslide on 28 May 2025. Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone.

The village was evacuated on 19 May after geologists identified the potential for a major landslide hitting the village as a 'worst case scenario' following their assessment of movements on the Birch Glacier. However, despite this 'worst case scenario' having come true, there is now thought to be a significant risk of further problems, with the landslid having covered part of the Lonza River, causing the potential for water to build up behind the debris, which might in turn catastrophically fail, causing flood events further down the valley.

 All glaciers in Switzerland, and the wider Alps, are currently considered to be at risk due to rising global temperatures, with many recording increased flow rates similar to that seen on Birch Glacier. While it is not generally considered possible to say to what extent global warming has contributed to individual incidents, it is highly likely that Alpine regions will be subjected to more incidents of this kind in the future.

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Ten miners confirmed dead, and a further ten missing following landslide in West Papua Province, Indonesia.

The bodies of ten miners have been recovered, and further ten are missing, following a landslide in the remote Arfak Mountains of West Papua Province, Indonesia, following a landslide on Friday16 may 2025. The landslide, which occurred at about 9.00pm, and is believed to have been triggered by heavy rains associated with the onset of the southwest monsoon, and struck a camp being used by artisanal gold miners. A further four miners were injured by the event, and rescue efforts are being hampered by the remote location of the site, which is ten hours travel from the nearest town, and ongoing heavy rains in the area.

Rescue workers battling floodwaters while recovering a body from a mining camp hit by a landslide in the emote Arfak Mountains of West Papua Province, Indonesia, on 16 May 2025. Indonesia Search and Rescue Agency/AFP).

Indonesia's large size, mineral richness, and poor population make unlicensed mining a widespread problem in the country, with illegal mines typically dug with hand tools and located in remote locations where authorities are unlikely to spot them (though some such operations are larger and more blatant in nature). Such mines tend to take few health and safety precautions, and are often dug by people with only a limited understanding of the structural geology of the area, making accidents extremely common, in many cases without help ever arriving due to the hidden nature of the mines. Such mines also present an environmental threat, producing waste which is often toxic, and contributing to deforestation, which can destabilise hillslopes, placing the miners at further risk.

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 seasons, 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.

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

West Papua has two distinct Monsoon Seasons, with a Northeast Monsoon driven by winds from the South China Sea that lasts from November to February and a Southwest Monsoon driven by winds from the southern Indian Ocean from March to October. Such a double Monsoon Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.

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At least 26 dead in flooding and landslides in the Vale do Aço metropolitan area of Minas Gerais State, Brazil.

At least 26 people have died, and several more are missing, after a series of floods and landslide events hit the Vale do Aço metropolitan area of Minas Gerais State, Brazil, on Sunday 12 and Monday 13 January 2025. Nine of the fatalies, including a nine-year-old boy, occurred when a landslide in the Betânia neighbourhood of the city of Ipatinga, where a landslide swept along a steeply inclined street, destroying a number of homes. Other fatalities, including in at least two further children, were caused by landslides in the Betânia, Canaã, and Vila Celeste neighbourhoods of the city, and another in the city of Santana do Paraíso, to the north of Ipatinga. The events followed several days of heavy precipitation in the area, with 326 mm of rain falling between Saturday 11 and Monday 13 January, including 80 mm in an hour on Saturday night. 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.

A rescue worker searching through debris following a landslide in the city of Ipatinga. Minas Gerais Fire Department. 

Southern Brazil has a rainy season that lasts from October to March, with peak rains from mid-November to mid-January, however, this year's rains have been exceptionally strong. Brazil has suffered a string of flood-related disasters in recent years, most notably in 2011, when over 800 people died. The country has a rapidly growing population, with little effective urban planning, which has led to sprawling urban developments springing up with little thought to natural hazards, and in particular poorer neighbourhoods often expanding up unstable hillsides, with the result that when floods occur (which is not unusual) communities are often quickly overwhelmed.

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Two-year-old girl killed by landslide in Catbalogan City on Samar Island, Philippines.

A two-year-old girl has been killed and three other people have been injured after a landslide destroyed a house in the Barangay Basiao area of Catbalogan City on Samar Island, Philippines. The incident happened late in the evening of Sunday 29 December 2024, following several days of rain in the area.  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. The three people injured are described as  35-year-old man, a 30-year-old-woman, and a baby girl, who were members of the family living in the house. A neighbouring house was also damaged in the incident.

The remains of a house destroyed by a landslide in Catbalogan City on 29 December 2024. RPN DYKC Cebu.

Residents of nearby homes have been evacuated while the situation is assessed, and local government units are also carrying out assessments, and where necessary further evacuations, in other areas which may be at risk of landslips. Much of the island of Samar is currently suffering froom flooding, associated with the Northern Monsoon.

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.

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

Southeast Asia has two distinct Monsoon Seasons, with a Northeast Monsoon driven by winds from  the South China Sea during the Southern Hemisphere Summer and a Southwest Monsoon driven by winds from the southern Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere Summer. Such a double Monsoon Season is common close to the equator, where the Sun is highest overhead around the equinoxes and lowest on the horizons around the solstices, making the solstices the coolest part of the year and the equinoxes the hottest.

The winds that drive the Northeast and Southwest Monsoons in Southeast Asia. Mynewshub.

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