20 October 2011
An interesting and large landslide in Iceland
Posted by Dave Petley
Summary: A brief report, including images, on a c.1 million cubic metre landslide in Iceland that occurred last Friday.
On Friday a landslide with an estimated volume of between 700,000 and 1 million cubic metres occurred at Eyjafjarðarsveit in northern Iceland. The landslide, which appears to have been triggered by heavy rainfall, is quite a dramatic flow-type event. It is covered in an article in Icelandic. The images below were taken by Gunnar Jonsson from Villingadal:
http://www.ruv.is/frett/stor-skrida-fell-i-eyjafjardarsveit
http://www.ruv.is/frett/stor-skrida-fell-i-eyjafjardarsveit
http://www.ruv.is/frett/stor-skrida-fell-i-eyjafjardarsveit
Interestingly the landslide does appear to have blocked the valley, and perhaps a small lake has formed upstream. The water on the lower part of the landslide shown in the first image suggests that it may have overtopped already though.
It would be interesting to know if this event was captured on the Icelandic seismic monitoring network and, if so, what form the seismic signal took.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
[…] An interesting and large landslide in Iceland. On Friday a landslide with an estimated volume of between 700,000 and 1 million cubic metres occurred at Eyjafjarðarsveit in northern Iceland. The landslide, which appears to have been triggered by heavy rainfall, is quite a dramatic flow-type event. […]
this is awful information!!
Wonder what made it fail right there…
and how is that slope different from that to the left and
right… and where will it let go next..
Best!motsfo
ps… Thanks for informing us… i always take a better
look at my surroundings now.