Landslide Insurance Coverage for Your Home

Factors Causing Landslide

A landslide is the slipping of land or debris down a slope under the influence of gravity. Landslides can be caused by a number of factors, and ultimately, the land becomes unstable and properties on it get destroyed. In the past, there have been some serious and fatal landslides in India, caused by a number of factors. The Himalayan terrain in north and north-eastern India as well as parts of Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats is prone to landslides especially. Following are some of the known factors that cause landslides:

• Seismic activities - Landslides can be induced by seismic activities, among other causes. An earthquake shakes up the mountainous terrain and the risk of landslides increases as the intensity of earthquakes increases. In 2015, the Nepal earthquake unleashed around 10,000 landslides that greatly damaged many infrastructures and properties.


• Flooding due to torrential rains - Heavy rains can cause the soil to become loose and moist, which can lead to mudflow, i.e. a river of mud, and the destabilized land can get trapped in landslides.


• Flooding due to climate change : Climate change due to global warming can raise the average temperatures in general, causing the glaciers on the top of mountains to melt faster, which can lead to sudden downpours and flooding of rivers, causing landslides.


• Overgrazing and excessive mountain land use: Overgrazing, construction of roads, excessive mining, and other construction works can cause the soil to loosen and the area to become unstable, making it prone to landslides


• Bush fires: Bush fires expose the soil when they damage the trees whose roots hold the soil together in place. The area then becomes vulnerable to landslides.