REMEMBERING 2O10’S LANDSLIDES Rain-triggered, earthquake-triggered, hurricane-triggered, and...

REMEMBERING 2O10’S LANDSLIDES

Rain-triggered, earthquake-triggered, hurricane-triggered, and wildfire-exacerbated landslides impacted

people in communities around the world.

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

2010

THE YEAR OF “RECORD AND NEAR-RECORD” NATURAL DISASTERS

IMPACTED NATIONS

• Haiti, Madeira (Portugal), USA (California) Brazil, Peru, China, Taiwan, ), Mexico, Central America (Guatemala, Nicaragua), …

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010

• Hundreds killed and injured.

• Homes damaged, and destroyed.

• Cars damaged and destroyed.

• Lives and livelihoods of thousands adversely affected.

• Medical care needs of evacuees and displaced persons increased sharply

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010 (Continued)

• Infrastructure (roads, bridges) damaged and destroyed.

• Emergency assistance slowed.

• $ Hundreds of millions in uninsured or self-insured economic losses.

BASIC PHYSICS OF LANDSLIDES

Planet Earth’s Restlessness (Because of Slopes and Gravity) Causes:

Landslides

LANDSLIDES

NATURAL PHENOMENA THAT OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT

HUMAN ACTIVITY

LANDSLIDES

Falls, Topples, Slides, Spreads, Flows

LANDSLIDE HAZARD

• Landslides encompass all categories of gravity-related slope failures in Earth materials.

SLOPES

• Slopes are the most common landforms.

• Although they appear stable and static, slopes are actually dynamic, evolving systems.

SLOPES

• Material is constantly moving on slopes at rates varying from imperceptible creep to thundering avalanches and rock falls moving at high velocities.

THE COMBINATION OF WINTER STORMS, HEAVY RAINFALL, FLASH FLOODS AND THE RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF PAST WILDFIRES, EARTHQUAKES, HURRICANES AND TYPHOONS, TREE CLEARING, AND URBANIZATION IS INCREASING LANDSLIDE RISK EVERYWHERE.

PHENOMENA THAT TRIGGER LANDSLIDES

• Gravity slope failures are triggered by earthquake ground shaking and excessive precipitation

• The slope does not need to be very steep for a landslide to occur.

LANDSLIDES• HAITI

•MACHU PICCHU

•SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

•MADEIRA (Portugal)

•RIO DE JANEIRO

LANDSLIDES• TAIWAN

•CENTRAL AMERICA

•CHINA

•Mexico

M7.0 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES HAITI

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE’S POOREST NATION WITH 8 IN 10 AT

POVERTY LEVEL HIT HARD!!

4:53 p.m.; JANUARY 12, 2010

THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE AND THE CARIBBEAN PLATE

PORT AU PRINCE: 1.8 MILLION IN A NATION OF NINE MILLION

EARTHQUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE

EARTHQUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE

RAIN AND MUDSLIDES IN MACHU PICCHU

2,500 TOURISTS STRANDED

JANUARY 28, 2010

On January 28, 2010, rain and mudflows devastated the homes of thousands of Peruvians living in the vicinity of Machu Picchu and created havoc for tourists visiting Machu Picchu and the

Peruvian authorities.

MACHU PICCHU

Peruvian authorities used helicopters to airlift some of the foreign tourists trapped by rain and mudslides that killed seven people visiting the famed Inca

ruins.

MUDFLOWS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:FEB 6, 2010

THE INTERSECTION OF HEAVY RAINFALL IN FIRST WINTER STORM OF 2010 AND BURNED OUT AREAS FROM WILDFIRES OF 2009 INCREASED RISK

FACT: MUDSLIDES INCREASE AFTER WILDFIRES

LA CONCHITA, CA

MUDSLIDES IN LA CONCHITA, CA: JAN 13, 2010

MUDSLIDES IN LA CONCHITA, CA

CARS TRAPPED IN FLASH FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES

CARS TRAPPED IN MUDSLIDES

MUDSLIDES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

ANOTHER VIEW

SHOVELING MUD

As the first storm of the 2010 season moved into Southern

California, the National Weather Service issued flash-flood watches and mudflow warnings for wildfire- burn zones in mountain areas from Santa Barbara to San Bernardino

counties.

This storm tapped into subtropical moisture, giving it the potential to bring moderate to heavy rain and create significant hazards of flash

flooding and debris flows, especially in the 2009 burn areas of

Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

WILDFIRE-BURN AREAS ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO MUDFLOWS

SANDBAGS: FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST FLOODING

K-RAILS: FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST MUDFLOWS

FLASH FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES IN THE MADEIRA ISLANDS,

PORTUGAL

AT LEAST 42 DEAD

FEBRUARY 20-21, 2010

LOCATION OF MADEIRA

WHAT HAPPENED

The worst storm to hit Madeira since 1993 lashed the south of the

Atlantic Ocean island, including the capital, Funchal, Saturday,

turning some streets into torrents of mud, water and debris.

WHAT HAPPENED (continued)

The flash floods were so powerful they carved paths down

mountains and ripped through the city, churning under some bridges

and tearing others down.

FEBRUARY 21: FLASH FLOOD

FEBRUARY 21

WHAT HAPPENED (continued)

Funchal’s residents and visitors had to contend with a lack of fresh

water as a result of destroyed infrastructure.

FEBRUARY 21

FLOODS AND MUDSLIDES PARALYZE BRAZIL

WORST IN 50 YEARS

APRIL 7, 2010

The worst rains in Rio’s history triggered about 200 mudslides,

destroying homes in hillside community slums, killing as many as 200 people, injuring hundreds

more, and leaving thousands without shelter.

WIDESPREAD INUNDATION

RIO DE JANEIRO

CITY OF NITEROI--RIO DE JANEIRO AREA

FEBRUARY 25: RIO DE JANIERO, BRAZIL

BRAZIL: JANUARY 1, 2010

10,000 homes, mostly in the slums where about a fifth of Rio's people

live, often in shacks that are vulnerable to heavy rains, were severely damaged by

mudslides

SEARCH AND RESCUE

LANDSLIDES IN TAIWAN

EXACERBATED BY A M6.5 EARTHQUAKE AND RAIN

APRIL 26, 2010

LOCATION

LANDSLIDE

SEARCH AND RESCUE

TROPICAL STORM AGATHA TRIGGERS LANDSLIDES IN

CENTRAL AMERICA

EXACERBATED BY PROLONGED RAINFALL

MAY 29, 2010

Over 140 landslides were triggered in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

VICTIMS OF LANDSLIDES: GUATEMALA

LANDSLIDE IN ZHONQU COUNTY, CHINA

Over 700 dead, hundreds injured, and over 1,000 missing

Midnight - Saturday, August 7, 2010

A massive landslide triggered by heavy rainfall in Zhouqu County set

in motion the side of a mountain, that damaged, toppled, and buried

buildings and their sleeping residents on Sunday, August 8th.

An estimated 1.8 million cubic meters of mud and debris flattened

three villages in Zhouqu; In Yueyuan village, not a single

structure was left undamaged after the landslides occurred.

MUDSLIDE: ZHONGU, CHINA

DAMAGED BUILDINGS

In addition, rock, mud, and debris from the landslide blocked the

Bailong River which passes through the area, creating a 3km (2-

mile) long temporary lake.

Water in the temporary lake overflowed, sending waves of

water, mud and rocks crashing down on the town, inundating low-lying neighborhoods with up to 4

meters of water.

FLOODED STREETS

EXPLOSIONS RELEASED THE BLOCKED BAILONG RIVER

PRIME MINISTER WEN JIABAO CALLED FOR ACTION: AUG 8TH

The Chinese army deployed 5,300 soldiers with 150 vehicles, 20 speed

boats and four helicopters, and rescued 1,240 people from the

landslide mud and debris, or from the tops of buildings where survivors had taken refuge.

.

RESCUE WORKERS

Over a meter of mud in many parts of the impacted area and rugged terrain made it almost impossible for rescue teams to bring in vital heavy equipment and specialists

needed for search and rescue operations.

A SURVIVOR AWAITING RESCUE

SEARCH AND RESCUE

A SUCCESSFUL RESCUE

A SUCCESSFUL RESCUE

Streams of refugees left the area, carrying a few possessions they had managed to salvage; others

carrying the bodies of loved ones.

Power lines were down in two-thirds of the county

.

Thousands of homeless residents were forced to live in the open, or in

the rubble of unsafe buildings, as dry, stable areas were not available

to establish temporary shelters using tents provided by the

Government.

.

At least 45,000 people were evacuated, including the residents of downstream towns thought to be at risk from new landslides that may be triggered in conjunction with the

continuing rainfall.

.

RAIN-TRIGGERED MUDSLIDE BURIES HUNDREDS IN

SANTA MARIA TLAHUITOLTEPEC, STATE

OF OAXACA, MEXICO

SEPTEMBER, 28, 2010

LOCATION

LOCATION

The landslide, triggered by heavy rain fall from Hurricane Karl and tropical storm Matthew, buried

hundreds in Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, MX, around 4 am as

they slept.

TROPICAL STORM MATTHEW: SEPT 24, 2010

Matthew moved northward towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula with heavy rain

fall.

During 2010, Oaxaca and some other parts of Mexico

endured their worst rainy season on record, with

heavy flooding and mudslides forcing

thousands from their homes.

Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, famous for its colonial

buildings and archaeological sites, is the home of the indigenous Mixe culture,

which is considered one of Mexico's poorest of the poor.

A VIEW OF THE LANDSLIDE

A VIEW OF THE LANDSLIDE

The slide dragged several houses some 400 m down the hillside along with cars, livestock and

light poles.

Bad weather and roads damaged by earlier

mudslides kept emergency rescue teams from reaching the residents of Santa Maria

Tlahuitoltepec

It is not clear how many homes were damaged or buried in the

slide and how many were killed.