The landslide at Vitalj in Bosnia. Photo by Mirza_Kuluglić.

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Vitalj, Bosnia and Herzegovina: a damaging landslide on 23 June 2020

Guest post by Damir Hatunić

In the early hours of 23 June 2020 a landslide occurred at Vitalj in Kladanj, northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. This landslide interrupted traffic on the main road, the M-18, between Sarajevo and Tuzla. The location of the landslide is 44.242, 18.706.

The location of the Vitalj landslide, via Google Earth.

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This was one of a dozen landslides triggered in the area after three days of rainfall combined with favourable antecedent soil moisture conditions developed since the last week of May according to The Federal Institute for Hydrometeorology in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The dimensions of the landslide are 70 metres in length and 20 to 30 metres in width, with the thickness of the initiating material estimated at between 1 and 2 metres.

The aftermath of the Vitalj landslide. Image via klix.ba.

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The landslide took a place on a eastward slope, which has 16° of average inclination and is artificially modified with cut and fill, where the regolith layer has formed on Jurassic claystones.  It is notable that the slope was completely deforested 20 years ago, but the forest has subsequently undergone regrowth.  Such conditions are very common in the area of northeastern Bosnia, which is a largely landslide-susceptible region.

The mechanism of movement here is predominantly translational and this slide can be classified as an earth-slide with transformation into a mudslide at the toe zone. The movement velocity during main phase, according to eyewitnesses, was in decimeters per second. Shortly after the landslide initiated, the responsible authorities responded with heavy equipment, so that part of the landslide was cleared from the road by the end of the day (according to Klix.ba).

Clearing work on the Vitalj landslide in Bosnia. Image via klix.ba

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This video provides more detail about the landslide:

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On reflection 1: Another near miss on the UK coast

The Metro has reports and images of another near-miss when a landslide from a coastal cliff came close to burying people on the beach.  Whilst the reporting of these events can be a bit dramatic, it is only a matter of time before there is another tragedy.

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On reflection 2: continuing heavy rainfall in China

Heavy rainfall continues to cause significant landsliding in China.  Xinhua reports a further 12 fatalities in Mianning County in Sichuan Province, with 10 people killed and seven reported to be missing.  Meanwhile, a rainfall alert has been issued for today for a swathe of China, including the provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hebei and Shandong.