Plate Nº 70 · recorded November 10, 2026
Earth & ClimateReported finding
August 2026: 60 fatal landslides and 7,365 deaths
A provisional tally records 60 fatal landslides and 7,365 deaths in August 2026, reflecting the enormous casualties from the Langtung Lirung landslide and subsequent debris flow.
By Priya Raman3 min read584 words
In brief
- August 2026: 60 fatal landslides caused 7,365 deaths, according to provisional data.
- A 26 August 2026 landslide on the flanks of Langtung Lirung and a subsequent debris flow devastated swathes of Nepal and Tibet.
- The dataset excludes landslides triggered by earthquakes.
- The cumulative series reaches pentad 48, covering almost all August data through 28 August.
- Through pentad 48, 2026 remained only just behind the exceptional year 2024 in fatal-landslide count.
By Priya Raman
A provisional global tally (a count subject to revision) puts August 2026 at 60 fatal landslides and 7,365 deaths. A fatal landslide (a slope failure that causes at least one death) means that every event in the count killed at least one person.
On 26 August 2026, a landslide struck the flanks (the slopes on either side) of Langtung Lirung. Its subsequent debris flow (a mass of rock and soil, often mixed with water, that moves downslope) devastated swathes of Nepal and Tibet. The blog attributes August’s extraordinary loss of life to the enormous number of casualties from this disaster.
What made August’s death toll exceptional?
The Landslide Blog author wrote: “In August 2026 I recorded 60 fatal landslides causing 7,365 fatalities.” The author also wrote: “This year continues to show a higher than average trend in fatal landslide occurrence.”
August produced fewer fatal landslides than July, which the author describes as exceptional, but its event count remained above the long-term average. The number of deaths did not follow that calmer pattern. The author characterized the fatalities as absolutely exceptional and very unusually high.
These two totals answer different questions. The event count records how many landslides caused deaths; the fatality count records how many people died. A month with fewer events can still kill more people when individual disasters prove deadlier.
The blog places the main explanatory weight on the 26 August Langtung Lirung landslide and the debris flow that followed it. It explicitly links the exceptional toll to the enormous number of casualties from that disaster.
How does the running total compare with 2024?
Two charts frame the pattern. The first counts fatal landslides by month from January through August. The second tracks the cumulative total (a running sum of fatal events so far) in five-day blocks called pentads (five-day intervals).
The author prefers the cumulative pentad view because it shows how the year-to-date total accumulates. The latest point, pentad 48, captures almost all August data through 28 August.
On that measure, 2026 remained only just behind 2024, the exceptional year for fatal landslides. The comparison concerns the number of events, not a direct ranking of annual death tolls. August’s unusually high fatalities leave a sharp contrast with its slightly calmer event count.
Toward the end of the month, the cumulative curve appeared to slow. The blog suggests that this may reflect the dynamics of the South Asian monsoon (the seasonal wind pattern that governs rains across the region). It offers the explanation as a possibility, not a demonstrated cause.
How firm are these numbers?
The figures remain provisional. The author will reanalyze them before formal publication, and additional landslide events may emerge. For now, they describe a recorded toll rather than a final accounting.
The counting method follows two published studies:
- M. Froude and D. N. Petley (2018), “Global fatal landslide occurrence from 2004 to 2016,” Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 18: 2161–2181.
- D. N. Petley (2012), “Global patterns of loss of life from landslides,” Geology, 40(10): 927–930.
The dataset excludes landslides triggered by earthquakes. Its scope therefore differs from broader disaster counts that may include quake-induced slope failures.
What does the provisional picture show?
August stands apart in the 2026 record: an above-average number of fatal landslides accompanied an exceptionally high loss of life, and the running event total remained close to 2024’s, with final figures still subject to revision.
via eos.org/feed (Source)
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Senior reporter covering people, launches and day-to-day practice in general science news at SciBeat.
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