Transcript REMEMBERING 2O10’S LANDSLIDES Rain-triggered, earthquake-triggered, hurricane-triggered, and wildfire- exacerbated landslides impacted

REMEMBERING 2O10’S LANDSLIDES
Rain-triggered, earthquake-triggered,
hurricane-triggered, and wildfireexacerbated 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 wildfireburn 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 (2mile) long temporary lake.
Water in the temporary lake
overflowed, sending waves of
water, mud and rocks crashing
down on the town, inundating lowlying 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.