Landslides are the most common geological event. That's a fact. They affect millions of people and cause many thousands of deaths. They often occur in countries with poor or inadequate infrastructure such as in Sudan's Marra Mountains region in late August 2025. Just the year before, in 2024, there were two major landslides in the same region. In Papua New Guinea, a reported 2,000 people were buried alive following a landslide in May 2024.
Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural death; they are frequently maimed and even murdered.