Mudflow disasters in mountainous areas

Erosion of mountain slopes by landslides and mudflows is mainly connected with extreme events such as rainstorms of high intensity or earthquake shocks as the trigger mechanism. Large mudflows can be very destructive and wipe out forests and villages and kill thousands of people. Monitoring and studies of mudflows are important for disaster prevention and for the sustainable use of land and water resources particularly in mountain areas threatened by deforestation. We describe and discuss cases of large mudflows in Norway, Tanzania, Brazil, Colombia and China.