Landslides can damage more than buildings, highways and underground utilities. A landslide near Cedar City, Utah has caused severe damage to local economies.
“Decision-support systems can be used to help synthesize, visualize, and analyze the natural-science and socioeconomic information needed for making risk-reduction and land-use choices.”
An article in the Los Angeles Times reports that the California Department of Transportation would like to abandon State Highway 39 because landslide and other problems are costing $1.5 million per year to repair.
Pittsburgh is located in an area with a very high incidence of landslides. People there regularly learn that homeowners insurance does not cover landslides and special landslide insurance – if it is available – can be extremely expensive.
After dozens of people were killed by a landslide triggered by artisanal miners in the Philippines, the government has evicted 83 families that were living in dangerous areas.
Leo Jasareno, director of the Philippines Mines and Geosciences Bureau estimates that 30% of recent landslides in the Philippines have been triggered by the poor excavation practices of artisanal miners.
Damage caused by a landslide that cut off the Paseo Del Mar highway near San Pedro, California appears to be confined to an area fenced off by the city. The Contra Costa Times has a photo showing the severity of damage.
Trout populations in the Eel River of California which now spawn in separate locations were for centuries confined by a landslide into a single area where interbreeding occurred.
Dave Petley has posted an update with before and after photos for the recent landslide that occurred at a power plant near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The slide sent an estimated 2500 cubic yards of ash into the waters of Lake Michigan.
Over one million acres of land in Arizona was damaged by wildfires in 2011. Now these areas are subject to potential debris flows during heavy rain. A recent article on the Arizona Geological Survey website describes the problem.
Dave Petley has an interesting blog post about the Aberfan Disaster, a massive landslide that occurred on October 21st, 1966. It is the UK’s worst landslide, killing 144 people.
Dave Petley author of The Landslide Blog has posted some images of a 700,000+ cubic meter landslide that occurred last week in Iceland.
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