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25 April 2010
A huge landslide on Freeway No.3 in Taiwan
Taiwan today suffered an extraordinary landslide in Highway number 3, which links Taipei with Keelung. The landslide appears to have completely buried the road for a distance of about 300 m. The depth of burial looks to be more than 10 m. There are reports that there were a number of cars on the road at the time – if so, the chances of survival are slim. At the moment …
18 April 2010
Hazard management in Taiwan
The Taipei Times has a very interesting editorial (17th April) that reflects upon hazard management in Taiwan. It returns to the edtorial that I wrote for the paper last summer, based upon a posting that I put on this blog. The need to take action to improvement the management of hazards in Taiwan is undeniable. As we approach a new typhoon season the legacy of the continued inaction could be …
24 February 2010
Framlingham College Presentation on the typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan
Last night I gave a public lecture on the Typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan. The talk may be viewed and downloaded here: 10_02 Framlingham comp http://www.authorstream.com/player/player.swf?p=332907_634025881557397500 See more presentations by Dr_Dave | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations
2 February 2010
The causes of the Shiaolin landslide disaster in Taiwan
The Shiaolin landslide disaster in Taiwan, which occurred during typhoon Morakot last August, has been the source of huge controversy. To recap, the landslide, which occurred during an exceptional rainfall event, wiped out Shiaolin village, killing about 500 people. The controversy centred on two key aspects – first, the perceived very slow response of the government to the disaster and second the possibility that tunneling associated with the Zengwen Reservoir …
26 November 2009
The damage caused by landslides during earthquakes
Below is the presentation file of the keynote lecture that I gave today at the Chilean Geological Congress in Santiago. I have removed a few of the figures as they have not yet been published. You should be able to download and to view the file below: Damage caused by earthquake landslides http://www.authorstream.com/player/player.swf?p=278331_633948356710621250 See more presentations by Dr_Dave | Upload your own PowerPoint presentations The powerpoint file is hosted on Authorstream, which …
8 November 2009
The role of landslides in coral reef destruction
Loss of coral reefs is a widely reported and serious problem, caused by a range of factors including changes in sea temperature and chemistry; pollution; fishing; development; and mining. Reefs are often also damaged by severe storms. It is is thus unsurprising to read this report of serious damage to the coral reefs at Orchid Island, to the south-east of Taiwan, as a result of Typhoon Morakot: “Coral reefs off …
30 September 2009
Debris flow damage from Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan
In addition to visiting the Shiaolin landslide in Taiwan at the weekend, we also managed to visit a couple of other places that had suffered damage during typhoon Morakot. Damage from debris flows and river floods occurred extensively throughout the upland areas of southern Taiwan, as these images show: The government has set aside about US$5 billion for reconstruction. Unfortunately this area is threatened by another typhoon, called Parma:
27 September 2009
Photos and text from a visit to the Shiaolin landslide in Taiwan
The aim of this post is to present an initial interpretation of the Shiaolin landslide, based upon a couple of days of fieldwork by Chris Massey and myself over the past two days. The interpretation here, which I have written (so don’t blame Chris!) should be considered to be provisional at best. At the end of the post there are some thoughts about future work. We have no intention at …
25 September 2009
First images from a visit to the Shiaolin landslide
Today, with two colleagues, I have visited the site of the Shiaolin landslide in Taiwan, which killed about 500 people on 8th August. I will write a longer analysis soon (we are due to go back tomorrow), but for now I will just provide a before and after image. Before: After (the village was at the foot of the slope): And this is the aftermath of the flood caused by …
22 September 2009
After Morakot
A new blog, called After Morakot, has been started to highlight the impact of Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. The most recent post describes a journey by the author into the village of Namsia, which was one of the most seriously affected villages in the typhoon. The images and the commentary are remarkable. I reproduce here two of the images, of the village of Mintsu – there are many more on …
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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