Earlier this week, multiple landslides hit the Wayanad district of India’s Kerala state, killing at least 144 people and injuring hundreds of others. The landslides were caused by torrential rains that lasted for days, uprooting trees, burying villages and cutting off roads and communication lines. State officials described it as one of the worst natural disasters Kerala has ever witnessed.

       Rescue workers continue to recover and identify bodies, and with more than 190 people still missing, the death toll is likely to rise. The state government has set up temporary hospitals and dozens of shelters, which are housing more than 8,000 displaced people. It also sent rations and clean water to the area, and declared a two-day mourning period on Tuesday.

       What led to the disaster? Wayanad is a hilly region in the northeastern part of Kerala known for its natural beauty and wildlife. A big tourist destination, its slopes are covered by tea and spice plantations and its valleys contain rice paddies.

       But the elevation, the steepness of the slopes, a thick bed of loose soil that sits atop hard rock and rivulets created by heavy rainfall create the perfect conditions for landslides, said S. Sreekumar, a geologist who has worked with government bodies on disaster management. New construction and irrigation methods used by farmers have also compromised the natural drainage system, he said.

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       “There are high slopes and people are settled at the base of the slope,” Mr. Sreekumar said. Extreme and more frequent rainfall owing to climate change are also “a big contributor, no doubt about that.”

       The area experienced unusually heavy rainfall for 48 hours, much more than what the India Meteorological Department had forecast.

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