Dynamic landslide triggers flash floods along Budhi Gandaki River in Nepal

A major debris flow and flash flood swept down the Budhi Gandaki River in the Gorkha district of northern Nepal on 11 October 2026. Eos Earth and Space Science reported that the event caused substantial damage. Euronews, Yahoo News UK, The Hill, The Hindu, and the Eagle-Tribune all reported that authorities ordered village evacuations after the flood struck the region. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Helicopter footage indicates that the event was initiated by a highly dynamic landslide, which may have been a rock avalanche, according to Eos Earth and Space Science. Eos Earth and Space Science noted that this flow moved relatively slowly and was smaller in scale than an earlier disaster on 26 August 2026 at Langtang Lirung. [1]

A landslide refers to a form of mass wasting that encompasses a wide variety of ground movements, including rockfalls, shallow or deep-seated slope failures, and debris flows. The Budhi Gandaki River is a tributary of the Gandaki River in Nepal and meets the Trishuli River at Benighat, between the Dhading and Gorkha districts. [7][8]

The event follows a separate series of flash floods and debris flows that occurred on the morning of 26 August 2026. Those earlier floods destroyed the Gyirong Port on the border between China and Nepal and struck dozens of settlements along a 72-kilometer stretch of the Trishuli River. [9]