Hiroshima landslide death toll rises to 49; 41 missing

Really tragic story. I hope those who survived will be able to rebuild their lives. Most standard insurance policies don't cover mudslides.

This a very sad, tragic, terrible thing to happen. Since about 2/3 of Japan's land is mountains, and with such a large population, crowed into any areas that DO NOT HAVE MOUNTAINS, sadly will always leaves those who end up living near or next these mountains that are very beautiful but in bad weather, we can see what MOTHER NATURE can do to us, even in the land of HIGH TECH, even the the HIGHEST TECHNOLOGY, is NO MATCH against the FURY of MOTHER NATURE!!! RIP

It must be extremely frustrating to have relatives or friends caught under the debris and then not being able to do anything for several days. I know I couldn't just stand there and watch, no matter how difficult it would be to try to rescue them. These survivors will have to live the rest of their life with enormous guilt and regret.

In many 3rd world and developing countries this is blamed on poor land management on the environment, forest and underground water source. It is said to be lack of trees and good drainage.

@Educator60 thanks for the informative post. That's what numerous geologists and civil engineers have been saying in TV interviews, too. It's a pity that the known risks--by no means limited only to this area, BTW--were ignored when the development of the area was done.

Even with soil less prone to sliding off hills, it's not a great idea to build houses on alluvial fans.