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26 March 2009
Tangjiashan – images of a potential disaster that was averted
This is the second of my series of photographic reviews of the earthquake affected area in Sichuan Province. The other sets are as follows:Part 1: Beichuan town Part 2 (this part): The Tangjiashan landslide Part 3: Hanwang town Part 4: The Mianyuanhe area Part 5: The Xingyiu area On Sunday I was lucky enough to be allowed to visit the landslide site at Tangjiashan, thanks again to my friends from …
25 March 2009
Beichuan – photos of the aftermath of a natural catastrophe
This is the first of my series of photographic reviews of the earthquake affected area in Sichuan Province. The other sets are as follows:Part 1 (this part): Beichuan town Part 2: The Tangjiashan landslide Part 3: Hanwang town Part 4: The Mianyuanhe area Part 5: The Xingyiu area Thanks to my friends in the State Key Laboratory for Geohazards at the Chengdu University of Technology I have spent the last …
6 March 2009
The role of landslides in global warming
A rather extraordinary paper has just been published in Geophysical Research Letters about landslides triggered by the Wenchuan (Sichuan) earthquake. Why is it extraordinary – well, let me quote from the abstract. The paper suggests that the landslides caused destruction of vegetation such that “the cumulative CO2 release to the atmosphere over the coming decades is comparable to that caused by hurricane Katrina 2005 (~105 Tg) and equivalent to ~2% …
23 February 2009
A few items of interest
You may have noticed that the number of posts on this blog has dipped of late. My apologies for this – we learnt just before Christmas that my seven year old son Adam needed open heart surgery, which was undertaken earlier this month. I am glad to say that it was a complete success and he has today returned to school, so normal service will hopefully be returned. So, I …
16 February 2009
Seismic frescoes – possibly the oddest earthquake induced landslide story of all time?
There is little doubt that the Wenchuan (Sichuan) earthquake in May generated a huge number of shallow rock slides. A very odd story has now appeared in the Chinese media in which it is observed that the rock slide scars appear to form frescoes (wall-mounted murals) on the mountain sides. So, in the words of the People’s Daily Online “Although the massive Wenchuan Earthquake caused tremendous damage, it has also …
7 January 2009
An update on landslides in Beichuan
At the time of the Wenchuan earthquake I posted on numerous occasions about the landslides around the town of Beichuan. One of the concerns has always been the likely behaviour of the landslides during heavy rainfall events. As part of the forthcoming Sinorock 2009 conference in Hong Kong there will be a tour to the earthquake-affected area to look at and discuss the landslides. The organisers have put together a …
27 November 2008
Presentation on the Wenchuan (Sichuan) earthquake
Tomorrow (Friday) I am giving a talk at Hazards Day in Manchester for AS/A2 students (year 12 and Year 13 in the UK system). The topic is the hazards associated with the Wenchuan (Sichuan) Earthquake in China. I have uploaded the file below: http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?p=113874_633633648527967500Uploaded on authorSTREAM by Dr_Dave This talk will be repeated at an event in London on Thursday 4th December.
30 September 2008
Further update on situation in Sichuan
The China Daily has today published an article that describes the situation around Beichuan as a result of the current heavy rains. The article is here. The situation is sounding increasingly dangerous. For example: “As a result of heavy rains and incessant mudslides, the plan to rebuild quake-devastated Beichuan county in northern Sichuan province as an earthquake museum has been put on hold, a local official said.” “A large part …
29 September 2008
Grave concerns in the earthquake affected area in Sichuan
Reliefweb is this morning carrying a story highlighting grave concerns about the situation in Sichuan in view of recent weather. The article is here. This article appears to have originated from the Jinde charity, who are active in the earthquake affected areas. In a nutshell they are reporting that: Sichuan Province is suffering the most severe rainstorms for a century. They report that since 21st September the city of Jiangyou …
24 September 2008
More trouble at Tangjiashan
Tangjiashan was the most serious of the “quake lakes” (valley-blocking landslides) generated by the Wenchuan earthquake. Back in June I followed the remarkable exercise undertaken by the Chinese authorities to mitigate the problem by draining the lake. Once the lake was drained the concern was what would happen in the wet season. Today, China.org.cn is reporting that new problems have developed: Two people were dead and 30 were missing amid …
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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