Badakshan, Afghanistan landslide. 2nd May 2014

I've been following the news on the Badakshan landslide in the north east of Afghanistan over the last few days. Landslides are a terrifying natural hazard, whether they strike high or low income countries, the impact and effects are significant and catastrophic. Reports are placing the death toll in the region of 300 -2,700 people, with many more left homeless.

A view from air shows scale of destruction in ARGO district. Photo courtesy of Mohammad Salem Wahdat, sourced from Bilal Sarwary Twitter page.

I've put together a Prezi on the event that I will be using whilst teaching this week. The Prezi is open for use and can be asked here. The resources are pages from the BBC and Dave Petley's landslide blog mentioned below.

Other websites and resources.

There are a number of websites that provide a very detailed background of the event:

• Professor Dave Petley's blog on Landslides - Excellent background to the landslides potential cause and links to photos. This is the 'go to' site I use for all things landslide related.

• The BBC's reporter in Afghanistan, Bilal Sarwary, provides a regular, local update on the impact from Afghanistan through his Twitter page.

• The BBC news website has featured a number of informative reports on the incident. It is depressing to see that only three days after the event the item is no where to be seen on the front page of the website. Quite a contrast to the Washington State landslide, USA, which although sizable seemed to attract more media attention.