From Bondo to Brienz and Blatten These were the most massive landslides in Switzerland
The demolition site of a rockslide at the small Nesthorn, on a flank of the Bietschhorn mountain in the Lötschental in Valais. The village of Blatten had to be completely evacuated in May 2025.
Image: Keystone
After the landslide on Piz Scerscen in the Engadin, in April 2024 the fallen rock piled up over a length of more than five kilometers in Val Rosegg.
Image: Keystone
The evacuated Brienz GR after the landslide on June 15, 2023.
Image: Keystone
The landslide was followed by several debris flows during this event: the destroyed village of Bondo GR in Bergell 2017.
Image: Keystone
The demolition site of a rockslide at the small Nesthorn, on a flank of the Bietschhorn mountain in the Lötschental in Valais. The village of Blatten had to be completely evacuated in May 2025.
Image: Keystone
After the landslide on Piz Scerscen in the Engadin, in April 2024 the fallen rock piled up over a length of more than five kilometers in Val Rosegg.
Image: Keystone
The evacuated Brienz GR after the landslide on June 15, 2023.
Image: Keystone
The landslide was followed by several debris flows during this event: the destroyed village of Bondo GR in Bergell 2017.
Image: Keystone
Masses of rock weighing tons and villages wiped out - landslides are among the most feared natural events in Switzerland. This overview shows where things got particularly bad.
23.05.2025, 15:00
23.05.2025, 15:12
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- Blatten VS and Bondo GR are not isolated cases: Landslides have occurred time and again in Switzerland.
- The Goldau landslide in 1806, for example, was the most devastating landslide in modern times in Switzerland with 40 million cubic meters of rock and claimed 457 lives.
- The Flims landslide around 9500 years ago moved up to 12 cubic kilometers of rock and formed the Rhine Gorge - one of the world's largest known landslide events.
Landslides are among the most catastrophic natural events in the Alps. In the past, landslides in Switzerland have repeatedly caused large volumes of rock to break loose and crash into the depths. Here is an overview of the most massive landslides:
May 2025: In Blatten VS in the Lötschental, 1.5 million cubic meters of rock had fallen from the Kleiner Nesthorn by midday on Tuesday. A further three million cubic meters could follow, according to the regional command staff. The village was evacuated at the end of last week and on Monday due to the risk of a landslide. In addition to 300 people, 190 sheep, 26 cows and around 20 rabbits were also evacuated.
14 April 2024: In the early morning, five million cubic meters of rock and ice fell from Piz Scerscen at around 3600 m above sea level into the main valley at around 2050 m above sea level. The landslide area was located in the municipality of Samedan GR.
June 16, 2023: Around 1.2 cubic kilometers of debris were set in motion in Brienz, Graubünden. The flow of debris came to a standstill in front of the village, meaning that no buildings were destroyed.
June 11, 2023: On the Fluchthorn massif on the Swiss-Austrian border near Scuol GR, around 100 meters of rock from the 3400-meter-high southern peak were swept away in a landslide. Around one million cubic meters rolled into the depths.
August 23, 2017: The Bondo GR landslide occurred on the northern flank of Piz Cengalo. The largest landslide in Graubünden claimed eight lives. Three million cubic meters of rock fell from the mountain - the volume of around 3,000 detached houses. Debris flows through the Val Bondasca reached Bondo, four kilometers away, causing evacuations and destruction. Around 80 people had to leave their homes. The village was evacuated for the first time in spring 2024.
December 27, 2011: Six years before the 2017 landslide in Bondo, there were already rock movements on Piz Cengalo. At around 7 pm, 1.5 million cubic meters of rock fell from the north face and remained in the rear Bondasca.
20th century
1996: In January and March, over two million cubic meters of rock thundered down from the Zuetribistock in the canton of Glarus into the Tödi region. The large boulders covered pastureland and destroyed buildings on the Vordere Sandalp.
1991: A triple landslide occurred in Randa VS between April and May. A total of around 30 million cubic meters of rock fell into the valley, destroying stables and vacation homes. No people were injured, but 35 sheep and seven horses died. As roads and railroad lines were also buried, the village was cut off from the outside world. Boulders the size of detached houses can still be seen today on the huge cone of rubble.
28 December 1961: One million cubic meters of rock fell from the Chli Spannort mountain in the canton of Uri. The air pressure destroys the vegetation several hundred meters high, even on the opposite side of the slope.
19th century
September 11, 1881: A landslide occurs in Elm GL, caused by improper slate mining. Around ten million cubic meters of slate rock fell 400 to 500 meters into the valley, burying over 80 houses. 114 people lost their lives.
2 September 1806: The Goldau landslide in the canton of Schwyz is considered the biggest natural disaster in Switzerland after the Basel earthquake of 1356. 40 million cubic meters of rock tumbled down the Rossberg on 2 September, destroying the villages of Goldau, Röthen and parts of Buosingen and Lauerz. A meter-high flood wave was created at Lake Lauerz. 457 people lost their lives.
Early history
563 BC: A landslide at a place called Tauredunum at the eastern end of Lake Geneva triggered a tsunami that swept all the way to Geneva, where it spilled over the city walls and killed many inhabitants. Even the villages along the shore were devastated. It is estimated that between 10 and 30 million cubic meters of rock were released during the landslide. The exact location of the landslide could not be determined with certainty on the basis of contemporary sources.
7500 BC: The largest known landslide in Switzerland occurred in prehistoric times. At the end of the last ice age around 9500 years ago, an estimated 9 to 12 cubic kilometers of rock fell down into the Rhine valley near Flims GR after the retreat of the Rhine glacier. This corresponds to the mass of 12 to 13 Matterhörner mountains or the volume of water in Lake Lucerne. The event is considered to be one of the most massive landslides in the world and formed a completely new landscape at the time: the Rhine Gorge.
7500 BC: The first known landslide in Switzerland occurred during the same period. In the Tamins landslide on Mount Säsagit above the present-day village of Tamins GR, around 1.5 cubic kilometers of rock fell into the depths.
