After Earthquakes, Nepal Faces Looming Danger of Landslides · Global Voices
Landslides in Sindhupalchok. Image by <PERSON>. Used with permission
It was predicted. After the 7.8-magnitude Great Earthquake on 25 April and the big aftershocks – 6.7 magnitude on 26 April and 7.3 magnitude on 12 May – the fragile hills have been vulnerable to landslides. Usually happening due to heavy rain during the monsoon season, Nepal has seen a series of landslides during the quakes and in the aftermath, the Kali Gandaki landslide being the latest.
That landslide, which ensued around wee hours on 24 May, was neither due to heavy rains nor a major earthquake. 307
According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the slope, which was loosened by the earthquake and aftershocks, gave way with no apparent trigger.
Nepali Times editor <PERSON> tweeted:
Kali Gandaki landslide shows monsoon rains, major earthquake not needed to block Himalayan river Site is 100km west of April 25 #NepalQuake
— <PERSON> (@kundadixit) May 24, 2015
By the morning the blocked Kali Gandaki River had resulted into a landslide dam.
Nepal Police tweeted:
कालिगण्डकी थुनिन गई १५० मि. गहिराई, १ कि.मि लम्बाई, १०० मि. चौडाई पानिले डुबेको । खुलाउने पहल भैरहेको, कुनै मानबिय क्षति नभएको ।
— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) May 24, 2015
150 meters deep, 1 kilometer long, 100 meters wide [piece of land] has blocked the flow of the Kali Gandaki [River]. Efforts initiated to drain the water, no human casualties reported.
Like in the earlier case of a massive landslide in Sindhupalchok last summer, where an engineer <PERSON> (@bewitchkapil) tweeted live from the site, <PERSON> (@gocoolchhetri) tweeted live from the scene.
कालीगण्डकी थुनिएर पुरै तालमा परिणत भएको छ अझै पहिरो जान रोकिएको छैन। छिट्टै पानीको बाध फुट्ने संभावना छैन pic.twitter.com/y2Hhv6KB3I
— म्याग्देली भाइ (@gocoolchhetri) May 24, 2015
Kali Gandaki [River] has been blocked, turning into a lake. Landslide has not stopped yet. No immediate possibility of dam explosion. 307