Dangers HereLandslides: the warning signs on a mountain road
Landslides follow rain and earthquakes with a predictable lag, and they concentrate on steep slopes that have been cleared, burned or cut through for a road. For a traveller the exposure is usually a mountain highway or a hillside guesthouse during a wet season, and the risk is highest in the hours and days after heavy rainfall rather than during it.
- 9High risk
- 1Medium
- 0Low
- 10Zones tracked
Signs a slope is moving
New cracks in the ground, in walls or in tarmac. Doors and windows that suddenly jam. Fences, poles or trees leaning out of line. Water breaking out where it never did, or a stream turning muddy and rising, or a normally muddy stream running clear. A rumbling sound that grows. Any of these means leave, quickly and sideways — across the slope rather than down it.
When to change plans
After sustained heavy rain, after an earthquake, and in the first wet season following a wildfire, when burned slopes shed debris flows readily. Mountain roads in Nepal, the Andes, the Philippines and Taiwan close routinely for this reason; treating a closure as advisory rather than mandatory is how travellers get caught.
How to avoid it
- Avoid mountain travel during and immediately after extreme rainfall — most fatalities cluster in that window.
- Do not camp or park beneath steep slopes, cut banks or gullies.
- Obey road closures absolutely, including ones that look unnecessary.
- Choose accommodation away from the base of steep or recently burned slopes.
- If you hear or feel movement, move laterally out of the path, never downhill.
- Build buffer days into wet-season mountain itineraries; roads reopen on their own schedule.
Where we track it
10 zones in the Dangers Here hazard database, by danger level.
High
- Andes — Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia
- Central America — Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica
- Himalayas — Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Southern China
- Taiwan
Medium
- Western North America — US West Coast & British Columbia
Questions
Where are landslides a risk?
We track 10 zones for this hazard. 9 are rated high risk, including Andes — Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Central America — Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Himalayas — Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Indonesia, Japan. 1 are rated medium and 0 low.
How do you avoid landslides?
Avoid mountain travel during and immediately after extreme rainfall — most fatalities cluster in that window. Do not camp or park beneath steep slopes, cut banks or gullies. Obey road closures absolutely, including ones that look unnecessary.
Signs a slope is moving
New cracks in the ground, in walls or in tarmac. Doors and windows that suddenly jam. Fences, poles or trees leaning out of line. Water breaking out where it never did, or a stream turning muddy and rising, or a normally muddy stream running clear. A rumbling sound that grows. Any of these means leave, quickly and sideways — across the slope rather than down it.
Get the alerts on your phone
Dangers Here warns you when you enter a hazard zone — even offline, even with the app closed. No account, no tracking, free.
Other hazards
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