The Haiyuan earthquake of December 16, 1920—one of the deadliest in China's history and, indeed, the 20th century—generated over 50,000 landslides in the epicentral area. The rural district of Haiyuan bore the brunt of the catastrophe, with over 50% of its population dead. In all, an estimated 270,000 people lost their lives in the double disaster.

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Huaraz debris flow (1941) -

More than 5,000 lives were lost on December 13, 1941 when the Peruvian city of Huaraz was decimated by a landslide fueled by glacial meltwater. Pictured is a survivor after being plucked from the debris.

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Khait landslide (1949) -

Triggered by an earthquake, the Khait landslide of July 10, 1949 in the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union, claimed at least 28,000 lives after 33 villages were buried under debris.

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Huascarán debris fall (1962) -

The debris fall from Mount Huascarán that occurred on January 10, 1962 totally obliterated several Peruvian towns and villages nestling in the mountain's foothills, killing more than 4,000 people.

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Monte Toc landslide (1963) -

Monte Toc in Northern Italy was the scene on October 9, 1963 of one of Europe's worst natural disasters when 1,918 residents of Longarone and its suburbs perished in a tsunami, the result of a huge landslide that sent rock crashing into a reservoir created by the Vajont Dam.

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Hope Slide (1965) -

On the morning of January 9, 1965 near Hope in British Columbia, a landslide of incredible force displaced a huge volume of earth and killed four people. It is the second largest recorded landslide in Canada after the 2010 Mount Meager landslide. Pictured is the Hope Slide today.

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Aberfan landslide (1966) -

On October 21, 1966, the collapse of a colliery soil tip in the Welsh mining village of Aberfan sent a landslide of coal waste downhill to engulf a school. The disaster killed 144 people, of whom 116 were children.

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Huascarán mudflow (1970) -

On May 31, 1970, a mudslide triggered by an earthquake destroyed the Peruvian town of Yungay and 10 nearby villages, leaving up to 30,000 people dead. Pictured is an aerial view of the damage, showing the origin point on Huascarán and debris fans in the valley below.

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Hong Kong landslides (1972) -

The Hong Kong landslides of June 1972 destroyed several apartment blocks and houses, with at least 156 people losing their lives.

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Tuve landslide (1977) -

The Tuve landslide took place on November 30, 1977 in a suburb of Gothenburg in Sweden. Nearly 70 houses were destroyed, killing nine and injuring about 60. Around 600 people were made homeless.

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Mount St. Helens landslide (1980) -

The cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state on May 18, 1980 caused the largest subaerial landslide in recorded history. Fifty-seven people died in what remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in US history.

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Mameyes landslide (1985) -

In what became known as the Mameyes landslide, over 130 people died in one of the deadliest single landslides on record in a North American territory when a wall of debris ploughed into the Mameyes neighborhood of Ponce, in Puerto Rico, on October 7, 1985.

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Armero landslide (1985) -

The Armero landslide of November 13, 1985 was the result of a volcanic eruption. A pyroclastic flow of deadly lahars completely engulfed the Colombian town and other smaller villages. The death toll was estimated at 23,000.

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Thredbo landslide (1997) -

The village and ski resort of Thredbo in New South Wales, Australia, fell victim to a deadly landslide on July 30, 1997, which claimed the lives of 18 people. The one survivor, ski instructor Stuart Diver, was rescued after being buried for nearly 66 hours.

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Vargas landslides (1999) -

Unusually high rainfall over the winter of 1999 prompted a series of landslides that swept through the Venezuelan state of Vargas on December 14–16, taking with it the entire towns of Carmen de Uria and Cerro Grande and engulfing villages and shanty towns. An estimated 30,000 people perished.

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Mumbai landslide (2000) -

Seventy-eight people, among them women and children, died when a landslide buried part of Ghatkopar, a slum neighborhood of the Indian city of Mumbai. The tragedy occurred on July 12, 2000.

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Southern Leyte mudslide (2006) -

On February 17, 2006, the province of Southern Leyte in the Philippines suffered a major loss of life when a rapid and violent mudslide flattened a vast area of the region. The official death toll was 1,126.

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Madeira floods and mudslides (2010) -

Extreme weather was blamed for the flash floods and deadly mudslides that struck the Portuguese island of Madeira on February 20, 2010. The island's capital, Funchal, was severely affected. The disaster claimed the lives of 51, with several people still missing presumed dead.

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Ugandan landslide (2010) -

There were at least 100 victims of the landslide that struck the Bududa District in eastern Uganda on March 1, 2010. Not everyone was accounted for, including up to 60 children.

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Gansu mudslide (2010) -

Gansu, a province in northwest China, endured a series of mudslides on August 8, 2010 that killed more than 1,471, with several hundred more still missing presumed dead. It was the worst single disaster of the 2010 China floods.

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Rio de Janeiro state mudslides (2011) -

The catastrophic January 2011 floods and mudslides that hit Rio de Janeiro state caused at least 916 deaths, including 424 in Nova Friburgo and 378 in Teresópolis. It was one of Brazil's worst natural disasters.

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North India flood mudslides (2013) -

At least 5,700 people lost their lives in Uttarakhand after flash flooding sent rivers of mud crashing into numerous towns and villages across the northern Indian state, including the pilgrimage destination of Kedarnath. The June 2013 extreme weather event is one of the worst natural disasters to hit the country.

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Oso mudslide (2014) -

The United States recorded a rare landslide on March 22, 2014 when a portion of an unstable hill near Oso in Washington state collapsed. Forty-three people were killed, and dozens of homes and other structures destroyed.

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Badakhshan mudslides (2014) -

Estimates vary as to the exact death toll in the wake of the Badakhshan mudslides of May 2, 2014. Numbers anywhere from 350 to 2,700 have been quoted as a result of the two mudslides that occurred in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province.

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Malin landslide (2014) -

A landslide that swept through the village of Malin in Maharashtra in the early morning of July 30, 2014 killed upwards of 150 people. Rains in the Indian state of Maharashtra continued long after the event, hampering rescue efforts.

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Mocoa landslides (2017) -

The Colombian city of Mocoa fell victim to flash flooding and a series of deadly landslides on April 1, 2017 that killed at least 336 residents. Over 400 were left injured and many others remain unaccounted for.

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Xinmo village landslip (2017) -

The massive landslide that took place on August 5, 1933 at Diexi in Sichuan province forever put this Chinese town on the disaster map. Then, up to 9,300 were killed. Fast-forward to June 25, 2017 and rescue workers were again sifting through the rubble in the aftermath of a landslide near Diexi, this time in the village of Xinmo. On this occasion, just 10 people lost their lives. But the event underlined just how susceptible this region of the world is to earthquakes and landslides.

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Petropólis mudslide (2022) -

Intense rainfall over Petrópolis in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state was blamed on the subsequent mudslide on February 15, 2022 that claimed the lives of at least 230 residents.

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Ischia mudslide (2022) -

At least eight people died after a wave of mud and debris caused by heavy rain devastated the small town of Casamicciola Terme on the Italian island of Ischia on November 26, 2022.

Sources: (Verisk) (United States Geological Survey) (The Guardian) (NASA) (CNN)

History's deadliest natural calamities

When and where have the deadliest of these forces of nature taken place?

10/01/25 | StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Natural disaster

Landslides, mudslides, and rockfalls have been devastating communities for millennia. But over the last 100 years or so, the frequency with which these natural disasters have occurred has increased, and with it more misery and grief. So, when and where have the deadliest of these freak forces of nature taken place?

Click through for a worrying and depressing diary of events.