Landslides in old forests
The serious landslide that occurred in Phat village, Hung Son commune, Da Nang city in mid-November 2025 left 3 people missing (including Mr. Hoih Zi Nut born in 1980, Mr. So Lam Nho born in 1997 and Ms. B'riu Thi Tep born in 1998). All 3 reside in Phat village. This is an event that existed in the highland villages of Tay Giang district, Quang Nam (old). Because, for many years, this locality has rarely had serious landslides, threatening residential areas or even villages as it is now.
According to Mr. BhLing Mia - Party Secretary, Chairman of the People's Council of Tay Giang Commune (former Chairman of Tay Giang District), the landslide site is located in the primeval forest, the area at the head of the water supply source for the border station, schools and people of Hung Son Commune. Under this forest canopy, people only grow ginseng and some medicinal herbs, there is absolutely no activity of mineral exploitation, timber harvesting or road construction, and hydropower construction as rumored. However, a large landslide suddenly occurred during a sunny day, very rare in the locality, with an estimated volume of cubic meters of rock and soil stretching for kilometers.
For mountainous people, landslides similar to the incident in the border commune of Hung Son are unusual, in addition to their generational experiences. Practice shows that for primeval forests, when it rains, the water almost seep into the thick vegetation under the forest canopy. After that, the water will take root, gradually seep into the soil, forming an underground circulation, thereby leaking into streams, streams and rivers and lakes all year round.
Only a small amount of rain flowed over the surface. Therefore, there will never be a flood that sweeps upstream if the forest is still intact. Landslides also occur very rarely. That is the reason why mountainous people protect the forest as if they protect the peace of their villages.
It is also because of that organic relationship that the people of the mountains love and respect each sweet plant. Over time, valuable experiences and traditional behavior have formed a unique cultural order of the Co Tu people in the central Truong Son area. That is the threshold of the mountains and forests.
Tay Giang people have their own annual "thank you for the forest" festival to show gratitude to generations of ancestors, who went before to open up the area, establish villages, and protect the forest. At the same time, it reminds the next generation to respect the past and traditional culture of their ancestors. In particular, this traditional festival has become a unique tourism product of Tay Giang, attracting tourists and contributing to the development of the local economy, improving the lives of local residents.
However, currently, after storms, many mountainous areas of Da Nang in Nam Giang, Nam Tra My, Hiep Duc, Phuoc Son... continue to experience serious landslides. The cause has not been given because there is no specific research. Currently, people and authorities are always passive, every landslide causes death, burying houses, destroying infrastructure and passively evacuating - running after natural disasters.
Need for a long-term solution
For more than 15 years, Tay Giang has persistently implemented the population planning program associated with natural disaster prevention. By 2022, more than 6,000 people in 130 villages had been relocated and had been resettled safely.
One of the important "architects" of this strategy is Mr. Briu Lic - former Secretary of the old Tay Giang District Party Committee. Mr. Briu Liec is the one who proposed and participated in the campaign to build new village areas, on "bowl-shaped" hills, with low slopes, away from streams, avoiding water gathering places to proactively avoid the risk of flash floods, landslides... to create a flat surface, build new villages, and bring people to resettle.
Because of the flat terrain on a steep hill, houses of residents were built around the mountain gourd, maintaining the traditional architecture and culture of the Co Tu people. Because it is at the top of the hill, the sanitation works and livestock barns are below the hillside, so not only does it ensure cleanliness, civilization, but the new village community is no longer afraid of the risk of landslides and burying houses as before.
Because of the stable resettlement with such a safe land, for many years the villages in the Tay Giang area have been peaceful through the storms and floods. If there is a landslide, it will also cause traffic jams and damage to traffic infrastructure.
The relocation and rearrangement of this population was partly successful thanks to the policy of "The State and the People work together". When implementing the leveling of the site, the government and village elders, prestigious people in the community will meet to discuss, agree on the location of the new village, donate land, relocate houses, crops... to have a consensus of the community.
The population arrangement initiative in Tay Giang has become a model for other mountainous localities to learn from. As climate change becomes increasingly severe, unusual weather, flash floods, and landslides become a constant threat.
Tay Giang is also a locality that does a good job of forest protection, enclosure and regeneration. The action program of the leader in Tay Giang for many years is like the declaration: "Forests are still there, Tay Giang is developing. Losing forests, Tay Giang is devastated". Primeval forests have contributed significantly to natural disaster reduction - especially landslides and flash floods in mountainous areas, Tay Giang, Hung Son, A Vuong... for a long time.
However, in the midst of the mountains and forests, natural disasters are still unpredictable. Da Nang needs to have thorough research to find the cause and better preventive solutions for the people. Especially in areas such as Phuoc Son, Nam Giang, Tra My - places with many residential areas, traffic floors, schools, medical stations at the foot of hills and mountain slopes with great risk of landslides.
There is currently no scientific research showing the phenomenon of unusual mountain cracks and occasional large-scale landslides as at present in the center of Truong Son. However, people are concerned about the phenomenon of continuous earthquakes occurring in this area in recent years. In particular, after storing water in the reservoir of Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant since 2011 and Kon Tum Thuong hydropower plant from 2023.
Every year, the Central region, including the localities of Quang Nam, Kon Tum, and Quang Ngai (old), suffered hundreds of large and small earthquakes. In particular, there were nearly 300 earthquakes in one year. No earthquake has yet shocked to 5 degrees Richter - meaning it could collapse houses and destroy solid construction works. However, the aftershocks of earthquakes from up to 300-400km away caused broken windows, cracked houses and caused panic among people in the affected areas.
However, there has been no research and no one has concluded that the phenomenon of mountain cracks is caused by these estimated earthquakes. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to have scientific research and field surveys to propose sustainable solutions for people in the highlands.
Do not let mountain cracks or landslides happen before urgently evacuating people and moving to new places of residence in a passive manner as at present. Not to mention, the urgent relocation, lack of research, surveys, and selection of new, suitable and scientific locations, leading to continued risk of landslides right at the resettlement site.
To inspect the situation and direct the work to overcome the consequences of the landslide in mid-November 2025, Mr. Tran Nam Hung - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Da Nang City - requested immediate actions to overcome the consequences of the landslide, but also organized the evacuation of people in vulnerable areas and considered long-term safety solutions for people in landslide areas in general.
