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landslide
Over 2,000 Feared Dead in 'Devastating' Papua New Guinea Landslide
"I have 18 of my family members being buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count," one survivor said.
May 27, 2024
A landslide that struck a remote part of Papua New Guinea on Friday may have killed more than 2,000 people.
The death toll was reported in a letter seen byThe Associated Press that was sent by National Disaster Center Acting Director Luseta Laso Mana to the United Nations resident coordinator on Sunday.
"The landslide buried more than 2,000 people alive and caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens, and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country," Mana wrote.
"This situation necessitates immediate action and international support to mitigate further losses and provide essential aid to those affected."
The landslide buried the village of Yambali in Enga Province beneath 20-26 feet of earth, according to U.N. News. It took place at around 3:00 am local time on Friday, May 24.
"It has occurred when people were still asleep in the early hours and the entire village has gone down," Elizabeth Laruma, the president of the Porgera Women in Business Association, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Laruma said the entire face of the mountain collapsed, squashing homes. Images showed rescue workers moving around downed trees and boulders. Some of the stones unleashed were larger than shipping containers.
"I have 18 of my family members being buried under the debris and soil that I am standing on, and a lot more family members in the village I cannot count," resident Evit Kambu told Reuters. "But I cannot retrieve the bodies, so I am standing here helplessly."
Initial reports put the death toll at around 100. Then, on Sunday, Serhan Aktoprak, country head of the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that approximately 670 people were thought to be buried under the debris and that "hopes of finding them alive are shrinking."
It is not clear how the government reached its figure of more than 2,000 dead, and IOM has not altered its figures.
"We are not able to dispute what the government suggests but we are not able to comment on it," Aktoprak told AP, adding, "As time goes in such a massive undertaking, the number will remain fluid."
The landslide covered 150 homes and displaced around 1,250 people, according to IOM. It also blocked off the only highway traveling into the affected province, making rescue operations more difficult. So far, only five bodies have been pulled from the debris, according to AP. Rescue workers and survivors had been attempting to dig people out of the earth with shovels and farm equipment until the first excavator was donated by a local construction business on Sunday.
In the letter to the U.N., Mana said the ground was still shifting, making the situation "unstable" and posing "ongoing danger to both the rescue teams and survivors alike."
There have also been challenges delivering aid to the survivors: a Saturday delivery brought tarps and water but no food, while the local government gathered food and water on Sunday for only 600 people, The New York Times reported.
"This situation necessitates immediate action and international support to mitigate further losses and provide essential aid to those affected," IOM spokesperson Anne Mandal told the Times.
"If you increase that intensity, you're taking the landscape into an environment it's never experienced, and it will respond. And a landslide is the inevitable response."
International leaders have expressed support.
"Jill and I are heartbroken by the loss of life and devastation caused by the landslide in Papua New Guinea," U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement. "Our prayers are with all the families impacted by this tragedy and all the first responders who are putting themselves in harm's way to help their fellow citizens."
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged her country's support, saying Friday: "The loss of life and destruction is devastating. As friends and partners, Australia stands ready to assist in relief and recovery efforts."
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres offered "deep solidarity to the people and the government of Papua New Guinea" and "condolences to the victims of the devastating landslides that have caused horrific death and destruction."
The cause of Friday's landslide is under investigation, according toThe Washington Post, but some people in the area have attributed it to a lightning strike or a month of heavy rainfall. The mountain was also already unstable because of a previous landslide, according to U.S. Geological Survey geologist Kate Allstadt.
Papua New Guinea is often struck by fatal landslides, according to ABC. Partly this is because it is a mountainous, tropical country on the Ring of Fire, where both heavy rainstorms and seismic events can destabilize hillsides. It also has a poor, rural population who are more likely to live in a landslide's path.
However, human activities also increase the risk, with industries such as mining, logging, and liquefied natural gas destabilizing terrain or contributing to deforestation. The climate crisis also makes extreme weather events that trigger landslides more likely.
"Slopes are particularly sensitive to short-duration, high-intensity rainfall events," University of Hull vice-chancellor Dave Petley told ABC. "You can go back to first principles—imagine a landscape evolves to deal with the most intense rainfall it experiences. If you increase that intensity, you're taking the landscape into an environment it's never experienced, and it will respond. And a landslide is the inevitable response."
Stand.Earth international program director and chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Tzeporah Berman spoke out in response to Friday's landslide, as well as a heatwave in India and Pakistan and a cyclone in Bangladesh.
"Every ton of new oil, gas, and coal projects will cost lives," she wrote. "It's time for a fossil treaty."
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Climate-Intensified Mountain Rain Could Affect Billions of People: Study
"This increase in rainfall extremes is not only something that is going to happen from now until the end of the 21st century—we're already seeing it," said the lead author.
Jun 28, 2023
Researchers from a U.S. national laboratory warned Wednesday that rising temperatures are shifting snow to rain in mountainous regions, increasing the risk of dangers such as floods, landslides, and soil erosion for up to a quarter of the world's population.
Scientists have previously determined that a warmer climate will mean more intense extreme precipitation events, but this "is the first time researchers have looked at whether that extreme precipitation comes as rain or snow," according to the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The new study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, connects every 1°C rise in the global temperature to an average of 15% more rain at high elevations, particularly in certain "hot spots" around the world.
Lead author Mohammed Ombadi said in a statement that "our findings revealed a linear relationship between the level of warming and the increase in extreme rainfall: For instance, 1°C of warming causes 15% more rain, while 3°C leads to a 45% increase in rainfall."
"This increase in rainfall extremes is not only something that is going to happen from now until the end of the 21st century—we're already seeing it," he noted. "That same rate was also evident in the data from 1950 to 2019. Rainfall extremes in mountains have already been increasing, and will continue to change with that 15% rate."
"One-quarter of the global population lives in or downstream from mountainous regions... They are going to be directly affected by this risk."
"One-quarter of the global population lives in or downstream from mountainous regions," he highlighted. "They are going to be directly affected by this risk."
The researchers found the shift from snow to rain is occurring in all Northern Hemisphere mountain ranges, but those at greatest risk of extreme events are the Cascades, Himalayas, Sierra Nevada, and coastal ranges from Southern California to Canada.
While further study is needed to determine why certain areas face greater potential danger, Ombadi said that "we think that North American Pacific mountain ranges are more susceptible to the risk of rainfall extremes than other mountain ranges because a significant portion of snowfall in this region typically occurs at temperatures just below 0°C."
"The slightest change in air temperature will shift this snowfall to rainfall. This is unlike other mountain ranges where snowfall may occur at very low temperatures below 0°C," he explained.
Ombadi expressed hope that the study will assist not only scientists conducting future research but also civil engineers and policymakers trying to mitigate and prepare for the worsening climate emergency.
"We need to factor these results into how we design and build the infrastructure in these mountainous regions, so that they can withstand the negative consequences of increases in rainfall extremes," Ombadi asserted.
"There are many technologies in progress that could help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions and how much the planet warms," he added. "To me, this study shows the need to invest in those clean solutions, and also start preparing for the consequences of warming now."
The study came a day after Ian Fry, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the context of climate change, said the number of people displaced by climate impacts "is rapidly increasing" and the global community "must realize its responsibility" to protect them.
World leaders are set to meet in the United Arab Emirates later this year for COP28, the next U.N. climate summit. Previous conferences have led campaigners and scientists to argue that countries' pledges and plans to reduce planet-heating emissions—particularly from fossil fuels, which made up 82% of global energy consumption last year—are wildly inadequate.
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Thousands Feared Dead Following Landslide in Afghanistan
"As the part of the mountain which collapsed is so big, we don't believe anyone would survive," said government spokesperson.
May 02, 2014
Thousands of people are feared dead following a landslide in Afghanistan triggered by heavy rain.
The disaster struck Friday in the Argo district of Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan when part of a mountain collapsed, burying the village below.
Wire services are currently reporting a death toll of at least 350 people, and with 2,000 still missing, many fear the death toll could rise significantly.
Government officials say the landslide could have buried up to 2,500 people.
"As the part of the mountain which collapsed is so big, we don't believe anyone would survive," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan provincial governor, toldReuters.
"There have now been more Afghans killed through natural disasters in the past seven days than all of 2013," stated Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan.
The Associated Press has uploaded this raw video of the scene:
Raw: Massive Landslide in AfghanistanThe United Nations spokesman says at least 350 people have died in a landslide in a remote area in northeastern Afghanistan.
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