Jade mining and landslides

800 Deaths in Last 4 Years

One of my favourite blogs, The Landslide Blog, reports that there has been 800 deaths in the last 4 years in the jade mining area of Myanmar (formerly Burma). The blog records 33 fatal landslides in that period. It is the global hotspot for landslide fatalities.

Google Earth images show that environmental protection (and health and safety) were not prioritised. They seem to have been completely forgotten! Put Hpakant into the Google Maps search box and look at the Satellite images. The place is dreadful. Zoom out and you see that it is in an area of wooded hills which looks idyllic.