![\"Niushou](\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/07\/20_07-Niushou-landslide-1.jpg\")
The Niushou landslide in China, as shown on Google Earth.<\/p><\/div>\n
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Niushou Mountain is an important cultural area, home to over 30 Buddhist temples<\/a>. To accommodate visitors, a project was initiated, as the works in the image above show, to construct a hotel for the Atila group. This was a large project, including 29 villas as well as the main hotel complex, over an area of about 24,000 m2<\/sup>. The image, from Li et al.<\/em> (2020),<\/a> below shows the site in June 2016 – the image is taken looking downslope:<\/p>\n Image showing the The Niushou landslide in China, from Li et al.<\/em> (2020)<\/a>. The villas are in the foreground, the main hotel complex was to be located at the site of the deeper excavation.<\/p><\/div>\n .<\/p>\n Li et al.<\/em> (2020)<\/a> report that after construction of the hotel began, a tension crack developed upslope of the hotel in June 2015 (marked in red on the image above). I assume, although this is not explicitly described in the article, that the slope had been cut to create the platforms for the hotel complex. Movement developed during heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n From summer 2015 to March 2016 efforts were made to stabilise the site with piles, anchor cables and drainage. However, on 11 June 2016 the slope failed during a further period of heavy rainfall, although the rate of displacement was low. Monitoring data indicates that the landslide has continued to move in periods of heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n Li et al.<\/em> (2020)<\/a> present a detailed investigation of the landslide, which has a volume of about 4 million cubic metres. It’s about 170 metres long and 105 metres wide with a maximum depth of 26.3 metres. Movement occurs on a weathered tuff layer with a mean slip surface gradient of about 10 to 12\u00b0. The paper does not describe whether this was a pre-existing area of instability (i.e. a relict landslide), but my interpretation of the morphology of the site suggests that this could be the case.<\/p>\n It is clear that the excavations for the hotel project activated (or reactivated) the slope, which failed when groundwater levels were high. Li et al.<\/em> (2020)<\/a> note that the 2016 rainfall event was unprecedented – it is likely that we are seeing the combination of design issues and increased rainfall from global heating.<\/p>\n As a consequence of the Nuishou landslide the hotel project has been abandoned, with a direct economic cost of 30 million RMB (US$4.3 million) and a potential total economic cost of up to 150 million RMB (US$21.5 million).<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n There are various reports this morning of further fatal landslides in Nepal, including up to ten fatalities in Rukum and Kalikot<\/a>.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n The Istanbul Canal<\/a> is a proposed waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. A recent study has identified 267 landslide zones along the alignment<\/a>.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/07\/20_07-Niushou-landslide-2.jpg\")
Quickslide 1: landslide costs in Nepal continue to mount<\/h4>\n
Quickslide 2: landslides along the Istanbul Canal<\/h4>\n
Reference<\/h4>\n