Since much of Papua New Guinea lies close to the equator where the Coriolis effectis weak, the risk oftropical cyclonesstriking the island nation is relatively low, especially in its northern areas.
Nevertheless, unusually warmsea surface temperatures and atmospheric conditions favorable to storm formation brought powerful Tropical Cyclone Mailadangerously close to the islands of Bougainville, New Britain, and New Ireland in April 2026, fuelingintense rainfall.
The heavy rains saturated steep terrain in the Gazelle district of East New Britain, triggering landslides on and around April 9 that led to several deaths, according tonews reports.
TheLandsat 9satellite captured an image of the fresh landslide scars cutting through the dense tropical forests in the Baining Mountains on April 20, 2026.
The Toriu River and other sediment-laden waterways are visible to the east of the landslides.
The landslides appear as light-brown swaths of exposed soil and debris extending north toward a nearby river valley, contrasting with the surrounding green vegetation and scattered white clouds.
A second image from Landsat 9 shows the same area on September 24, 2025, before the landslides.
Maila was notable for its intensity—reaching Category 4 strength onAustralia’s cyclone intensity scale—and also for its slow movement near Papua New Guinea.
Instead of passing quickly through the region, Maila lingered, allowing rainbands to repeatedly strike East New Britain.
Satellite-basedprecipitation estimatesfrom NASA’sGlobal Precipitation Measurement mission indicate that hundreds of millimeters of rain likely fell across the region in less than a week.
NASA’sLandslide Hazard Assessment for Situational Awareness model uses precipitation estimates from GPM along with slope, soil, and land cover data to identify areas where rainfall is likely totrigger landslides.
During the height of the storm, LHASA highlighted parts of East New Britain—including the Baining Mountains—as having anelevated riskof slope failure.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from theU.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
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EosThe 9 April 2026 landslide at Lamarain in Papua New Guinea. Accessed April 30, 2026.
ForbesWhy Hurricanes Almost Never Form Near Or Cross The Equator. Accessed April 30, 2026.
Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and RecoveryThink Hazard: East New Britain. Accessed April 30, 2026.
Li, M. & Toumi, R.Can tropical cyclones exist near the Equator?Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 152, e70014.
NASALandslides. Accessed April 30, 2026.
NASAGPM Precipitation & Applications Global Viewer. Accessed April 30, 2026.
NASA Scientific Visualization StudioDaily Global Landslide Exposure Map. Accessed April 30, 2026.
Post-Courier28 Survivors in Lamarain landslide tragedy as Governor visits site yesterday. Accessed April 30, 2026.
ReliefWebTropical Cyclone Maila. Accessed April 30, 2026.
RNZDeadly landslide claims 10 lives in PNG’s East New Britain, local media report. Accessed April 30, 2026.
Stanley, T. A.,et al.Data-Driven Landslide Nowcasting at the Global Scale. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9
U.S. Department of State, via FacebookThe United States extends our deepest condolences to the people and Government of Papua New Guinea…Accessed April 30, 2026.
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