11 November 2019
Planet Labs images of landslides triggered by the 2019 Cotabato earthquakes in the Philippines
Posted by Dave Petley
Planet Labs images of landslides triggered by the 2019 Cotabato earthquakes in the Philippines
Planet Labs satellite images have now become available showing at least some of the landslides triggered by the 2019 Cotabato earthquakes sequence in the Philippines, which I highlighted last week. Cloud is still affecting some of the area, so the picture is not yet fully clear, but there is sufficient detail to see at least two large clusters of landslides. Below is an overview image, based on an image collected on 8 November 2019, of one of the clusters (located at 6.960, 125.200). I’ll call this group of landslides the Barangay Buhay cluster; the other cluster I have found is at Barangay Bato (located at 6.84, 125.16). I will endeavour to feature the other later this week.
Planet Labs image of the Barangay Buhay cluster of landslides triggered by the Cotabato earthquakes. Planet Labs PlanetScope image, captured on 8 November 2019. Copyright Planet Labs, used with permission.
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There are two features of note here. One is the c. 1 km long landslide at Barangay Buhay in Makilala, North Cotabato, which is shown in a photograph in an article about survivors of the earthquake, published in Minda News. The article details the survival of an agricultural worker, who was buried up to his neck by one of the landslides, but I think this was probably at Barangay Bato.
Planet Labs image of one of the largest landslides triggered by the Cotabato earthquakes. Planet Labs PlanetScope image, captured on 8 November 2019. Copyright Planet Labs, used with permission.
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To the east is a large cluster of landslides, the extent of which is not fully covered by the imagery. This cluster, which extends for at least 5 km from east to west and 3 km from north to south, contains a large number of landslides triggered by the Cotabato earthquakes.:-
Planet Labs image of the Barangay Buhay cluster of landslides triggered by the Cotabato earthquakes. Planet Labs PlanetScope image, captured on 8 November 2019. Copyright Planet Labs, used with permission.
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The Barangay Bato cluster of landslides, triggered by the Cotabato earthquakes, is also large, so watch this space…
Reference
Planet Team (2019). Planet Application Program Interface: In Space for Life on Earth. San Francisco, CA. https://www.planet.com/
Dave Petley is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. His blog provides a commentary on landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
Perfectamente se puede calcular la cantidad de masa removida y desplaza en la cuenca, asi como el volumen de lluvias, si los hay, por área y los depósitos torrenciales que se forman, mapear esos cuaternarios de una vez.
[Google Translate: You can perfectly calculate the amount of mass removed and displaced in the basin, as well as the volume of rainfall, if any, by area and torrential deposits that are formed, map those quaternaries at once. D.]