Large landslide dams are one of the most disastrous natural phenomena in mountainous regions all over the world Such dams are formed most commonly in tectonically active settings where high mountains border narrow and steep valleys and earthquakes occur frequently. Landslide dams are very diverse in terms of their formation, geotechnical characteristics, longevity, stability, and flood hazard. The two major causes of landslide dam formation are precipitation and earthquake. About 50% of dam-forming landslides are brought about by rainstorms and snowmelts, 40% by earthquakes, and 10% by other factors Geometry of valley in relation to geometry and volume of debris and discharge of damming river are some of the factors which are responsible for the development of landslide dams. Schuster et al. (1998) mentioned four groups of governing factors responsible for the spatial distribution of landslide dams. They are i) seismic intensity, ii) slope gradient and topography, iii) lithology and weathering properties, and iv) soil moisture and groundwater content. Landslide dams are generated by various types of mass movements, which range from rock falls and rockslides in steep walled, narrow canyons to earth slumps in flat river lowlands. Managing landslide-dam hazards requires an understanding of the temporal and spatial scales on which such phenomena occur. Many previous works on landslide dams have been mainly descriptive in character, and have produced a multitude of documented case studies and inventories (e.g. Costa and Schuster, 1988; Costa and Schuster, 1991). More recent work is focused on quantitative methods of determining the post-formation development, in particular, the controls on dam longevity.
