A landslide dam or barrier lake is the natural damming of a river by some kind of landslide, such as a debris flow, rock avalanche or volcanic eruption. If the damming landslide is caused by an earthquake, it may also be called a quake lake. Some landslide dams are as high as the largest existing artificial dam.
1786Jun, 10
A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China.
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Events on 1786
- 16Jan
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson. - 1May
The Marriage of Figaro
In Vienna, Austria, Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time. - 25Jun
St. George Island (Alaska)
Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. - 8Aug
Jacques Balmat
Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard. - 11Aug
Penang
Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.