31 August 2011

Garbage dump landslide in the Philippines

Posted by Dave Petley

The Daily Mail has an online article this morning with a set of images of the garbage dump landslide that was triggered by Typhoon Nanmadol at the Irisan dumpsite in the city of Baguio in the Philippines earlier this week.  The garbage reportedly buried at least 20 houses.  Three bodies of children have been recovered; two further victims are believed to be buried in the waste.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032012/Garbage-landslide-Five-people-missing-rubbish-floods-city-dump-site-walls-collapse-Typhoon-Nanmadol.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2032012/Garbage-landslide-Five-people-missing-rubbish-floods-city-dump-site-walls-collapse-Typhoon-Nanmadol.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

 

The cause of the landslide appears to be the collapse of a retaining wall.

Back in 2008 I posted a review of garbage dump landslide incidents – this is still available here.  Garbage dump landslides remain a serious problem in less developed countries, but at the moment they are poorly understood.