Large rain‐induced landslide at Ab Barak,

Afghanistan, 2 May 2014

CIVL 1100
Discovering Civil and Environmental Engineering

Geotechnical News
A large landslide, triggered by
torrential rain in Ab Barak,
Afghanistan, has killed at least 2,100
people and left thousands more
missing. The initial mudslide struck
between 11:00 and 13:00 on 2 May
2014, Friday, a day of worship in
Professor Limin Zhang, PhD, FASCE Afghanistan when many families
would have been at home rather than
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
work. Fellow villagers tried to rescue
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology those stuck after the primary
mudslide, but a second mudslide
occurred which killed a "large
proportion" of potential rescuers.
2

The Ab Barak landslide has distinct features of a very typical landslide. The
landslide foot and toe marched into the town and destroyed over 300 houses.