19 February 2010

A landslide dam in Haiti caused by the earthquake

Posted by Dave Petley

Thanks to Lynn Highland for the heads-up on this one. The French language website cyberpresse.ca has an article describing a valley blocking landslide triggered by the Haiti earthquake. The translation says:

The dam is large and there are still several tens of metres before the water passes over it. The problem is that it has hardly rained since the earthquake of January 12. When the rainy season triggers, a few weeks at most, the water will very quickly here…The dam is located in the mountains about ten miles upstream of Grand Goave, a city wedged between the sea and a semi-circle of mountains that lies ahead.

This is a Google Earth image of Grand Goave after the earthquake: