Ethiopia's Disaster Risk Management Commission has issued a landslide early warning covering seven regions from March 2026 through September 2027, days after landslides in Gamo Zone killed at least 52 people and displaced thousands.
The 18-month warning names districts in Amhara, Central Ethiopia, Oromia, Sidama, Southern Ethiopia, Southwest Ethiopia, and Tigray regional states as landslide-prone, according to BBC Afaan Oromoo, which reported on the Commission's statement. The Gamo Zone Communication Office confirmed the updated death toll of at least 52 from the March 1 landslides in a post on its Facebook page, up from earlier reports of at least 30. Some individuals remain missing.
The Commission identified vulnerable districts across at least nine zones in Oromia alone. The full Oromia breakdown, as reported by BBC Afaan Oromoo:
- Jimma Zone: Qarsa, Manna, Gomma, Gera, Seka Chekorsa, Dedo, Chora
- West Shewa Zone: Ginde Beret, Jeldu, Cheliya, Meta Robi, Abuna Ginde Beret, Tokke Kutaye, Ejersa Lafo, Meta Walqixxe
- North Shewa Zone: Wara Jarso, Darra, Hidabu Abote, Kuyyu, Yaya Gulele, Alaltu
- East Shewa Zone: Gimbichu
- Arsi Zone: Asako, Gololcha, Seru
- East Hararghe Zone: Meta, Guraawa
- Southwest Shewa Zone: Amaya
- West Guji Zone: Hamballa Wamana, Abaya, Galana
- Buno Bedele Zone: Dega, Gechi, Didessa
Districts in the other six regions were also named in the Commission's warning, but a detailed breakdown for those regions was not available from the source reviewed.
The Commission cautioned that the warning does not mean every village in listed districts will experience landslides, according to the BBC Afaan Oromoo report. It called on regional disaster management bodies, government at all levels, and the media to raise awareness and urged precautionary measures in affected communities.
The spring season brings heavy rainfall to southern and southeastern Ethiopia in particular, driving the elevated risk. The warning window — spanning through September 2027 — covers two full rainy seasons, an unusually extended timeframe.
Landslides are a recurring and increasingly deadly hazard in Ethiopia's highland regions. In July 2024, landslides in Gofa Zone, Southern Ethiopia Regional State, killed more than 200 people, making them among the deadliest landslide events globally that year. Ethiopia's steep highland topography, widespread deforestation, and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns — which scientists have linked to climate change — compound the seasonal threat. The Commission's decision to issue a formal early warning naming specific districts across seven regions represents a direct institutional response to the Gamo Zone disaster and signals concern that the risk extends well beyond a single zone or season.
