The multiple landslides that devastated Meppadi, Mundakkai and Chooralmala in Wayanad in the early hours of July 30, killing more than 100 people, is the largest Kerala has witnessed. Most tragedies have struck in late July or early August when the state receives copious rainfall.
The tragedy that hit Pettimudi in Idukki on August 6, 2020, was the biggest landslide-related tragedy in Kerala until now. It claimed 66 lives, with four more still missing.
In 2019, Kerala witnessed a series of landslides at Kavalappara in Malappuram, Puthumala in Wayanad and Vilangad in Kozhikode districts. The three tragedies struck on August 8, with Kavalappara being the most catastrophic, with at least 59 presumed dead, including 11 who are still missing. At Puthumala, 17 fatalities were reported, with five still missing.
On November 9, 2001, a landslide hit Amboori in Thiruvananthapuram, killing 38 people. At least 33 people were killed in a landslide on July 26, 1974, at Adimali in Idukki.
The heaviest fatality from a landslide before that was 29 reported in August 1958 at Koottikal in Kottayam. At least 21 people were killed in landslides that hit Kottikkal and Kokkayar in Idukki on October 16, 2021.