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29 October 2008
A further Pakistan earthquake
At 11:32 UT there was a further earthquake in Balochistan, this time Mw=6.2 at 10 km depth. This is sufficiently large and shallow to cause considerable additional damage, including landslides. Unfortunately, this event is even closer to Ziarat, which seems to have borne the brunt the first time around. The epicentre is at 30.541°N, 67.457°E according to the USGS, which is shown below on Google Earth (click on the image …
Magnitude Mw=6.4 earthquake in Pakistan
News is coming in this morning of moment magnitude = 6.4 earthquake in Balochistan in Pakistan. According to the USGS, the earthquake occurred at 23:09 UT (04:09 local time) at a depth of about 15 km. The USGS have produced this map of the epicentre: Fig. 1: USGS map of the location of the epicentre of the earthquake This produces a map of shaking that looks like this:Fig. 2: USGS …
Highway 97 latest update
The latest update on the Highway 97 landslide in Canada (see here and here) is as follows: The slope is still moving. Between 19:00 on Monday and 14:00 on Tuesday the mass moved about 15 millimetres (i.e. about 0.8 mm per hour). This is quite high for a large mass. The rate of movement is described as being constant; The mobile volume is now estimated to be 200,000 cubic metres; …
28 October 2008
Highway 97 update
Arthon have posted an update on their website of the situation at Highway 97 in Canada:“Slight movement in Rock Mass overnight. Road likely closed until Thursday at a minimum. Options being considered for removal of rock” There is also quite a nice news report with footage here. In the report there is a good description of the use of precursor indicators that can be used to warn of a large-scale …
27 October 2008
Interesting slide on Highway 97 in Canada
Thanks to Andrew Giles for bringing this one to my attention. Highway 97 in British Columbia is currently being upgraded through the Okanagan Valley (Fig. 1). This project is being undertaken by Arthon – their project website describes this as: “Four lane roadworks and 1,000,000 m3 rock removal over a 7 km section of BC’s main north-south highway corridor. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation awarded Arthon Contractors Inc. a $38.6 …
22 October 2008
Landslide crisis in Honduras
Although it has not received any substantial coverage in the west, it appears that there is a serious landslide crisis developing in Honduras. Over the last few days Honduras has experienced intense rainfall as a consequence of a stalled tropical depression. A state of emergency has been declared. The most serious problem appears to lie in Corquin in Copan, in the very west of Honduras. Here, both La Prensa and …
19 October 2008
A strange report from Nigeria…
The Nigerian newspaper “The Punch” has been carrying a quite strange and intriguing story over the last few days regarding an apparently huge landslide in the Awgu area (i.e. at about 6.0046N, 7.4024E). The key points of the story (from the Punch) are: “Residents of Ugwueme, Umuhu, Ugulesi Awgu and Ezinese Mgbidi communities in Awgu Local Government Area, Enugu State could not believe their eyes when they visited their farmland …
14 October 2008
The Lifan landslide – from natural disaster to cover up
In China this summer there have been two big mining-related flowslides. The second, at Linfen County in Shanxi Province attracted a great deal of publicity (see my blog reports here and here), not least because of the very high death toll. However, the story of the first, which happened on 1st August at Lifan, also in Shanxi Province, is a great deal more murky, but details are now emerging. On …
9 October 2008
Young River Landslide, New Zealand
Interesting news from New Zealand, where for the last few months there has been some concern about a landslide dam on South Island. The landslide itself occurred in a fairly remote area of the Southern Alps at 4:40 am on 29th August 2007. The landslide, which is well-described in a GNS Science poster here (there are some great images and some good data on that poster), blocked the river valley …
1 October 2008
September 2008 fatal landslide map
For the first time in recorded history the monthly fatal landslide map is actually on time! Below is the map for September 2008. First the statistics:Number of recorded fatal landslides: 59Number of recorded fatalities: 1290 September has been a quite bizarre month, with fatal landslides occurring at a level that is much higher than expected. As such this continues the trend for August, which was also above average, but it …
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.
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