The Derna dam collapse
Two dams fail above a Libyan city and a quarter of it is swept into the sea.
- When
- Known to
- ± 12 hours
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
- Where
- Derna, Libya · 32.7671° N, 22.6367° E
Storm Daniel dropped a year's rain on north-east Libya on 10 September 2023, and two earthen dams above Derna gave way in the night. A wall of water carried entire districts into the Mediterranean; the death toll is estimated between 5,000 and 11,000 and has never been established. The dams had been known to need repair since 1998, and Libya's division between rival governments meant no authority had done it.