You are browsing the archive for Landslides Mudslides.
19 September 2009
Special session on Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan
This afternoon at the Chi-Chi earthquake conference in Taiwan the organiser laid on a special session on the impact of Typhoon Morakot in August. This is of great interest to me, given the impact of the landslides, so I thought I’d give summary of the key points. Apologies for the note form – I have done this Twitter-style! 1. The magnitude of the typhoonFor Taiwan this was an extraordinary event. …
18 September 2009
Presentation at the International Conference in Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake
Below is my presentation from the conference in Taiwan. The file is on authorstream (my authorstream page is here – there are several of my presentations there). You should be able to play or download the presentation below or from the authorstream site. As ever, please acknowledge anything that you use from it. The paper was a review of the key things that we have learnt from research into landslides …
4 September 2009
The geological structure of the Hsiaolin slide
Thanks to reader Chingying Tsou, who has answered my request for information about the geological structure of the Hsiaolin landslide. He has provided a link to the website of the Sino-Geotechnics Research and Development Foundation, which provides the key information. The page is in Chinese, but the diagrams are really helpful, as is the Google translation. So here is a topographic map of the landslide site, with the major faults …
3 September 2009
The Hsiaolin landslide slope before failure
In an earlier post I highlighted a satellite image of the Hsiaolin landslide site. I have trimmed this a little below: This image is rather helpful as it starts to allow the site of the landslide before failure to be examined using Google Earth, which has good quality imagery of this area. This is, as close as I can get it, the same slope prior to failure: Click on the …
31 August 2009
Eyewitness account of landslides triggered by Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan
Aerial image of Hsiaolin from CNR-IRPI I have today returned from my holiday, so normal service should be resumed. Interestingly, the number of readers of the blog appears to have increased in my absence. There is a lesson there I think! Anyway, I have a large backlog of things to post, but unfortunately also have a large backlog of other work as well, so it may take some time. Anyway, …
27 August 2009
Op Ed in Taipei Times on landslide management in Taiwan
The Taipei Times, which is the premier English language newspaper in Taiwan, has generously run as an Op. Ed. an improved version of my blog post reflecting on landslide management in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot. This is available here.
18 August 2009
Some reflections on the Typhoon Morakot landslide disaster in Taiwan
For landslide scientists Taiwan has an almost mythical status, effectively being the nearest thing to a landslide laboratory. To my great benefit I have been able to work on landslides in Taiwan since 1991. As well as being a country of great beauty (there are good reasons why the Portuguese named it Ilha Formasa – Beautiful Island – in 1544), the combination of high rates of tectonic uplift, weak rocks, …
A first decent view of the Shiaolin (Hsiao-Lin) Landslide
First, apologies if my posts are a little sporadic (and if I am not replying to your emails). I am currently on leave in the Swiss Alps. However, I will continue to make short posts over the next fortnight, especially in light of the Taiwan landslides. Thanks again to Tsou Ching-Ying of Kyoto University for bringing to my attention a Youtube video of the Shiaolin site. This is of course …
Typhoon Morakot mudslides: Before and after photos of Shiaolin (Hsiao-lin) village in Taiwan
Thanks to Tsou Ching-ying from Kyoto University for providing this pair of images, showing the impact of the mudslides on Shiaolin village in Taiwan as a result of Typhoon Morakot. Before (from an online album here): After (from an online album here):
12 August 2009
Taiwan mudslides – a very lucky escape for most
(AFP image) This morning various news agencies are reporting the very good news that four days after Typhoon Morakot 726 survivors have been found from the villages destroyed by the mudslides. This does not mean that the mudslides had no victims – the Taiwan police are saying that it is difficult to know how many people were buried.
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.
Recent Comments