{"id":6810,"date":"2013-08-28T12:21:02","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T12:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=6810"},"modified":"2013-08-28T12:21:02","modified_gmt":"2013-08-28T12:21:02","slug":"otuwhero-inlet-landslide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2013\/08\/28\/otuwhero-inlet-landslide\/","title":{"rendered":"A GNS Science report into the fatal landslide in June at Otuwhero Inlet in New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between 15th and 17th June this year exceptionally heavy rainfall in the Tasman District of New Zealand triggered large numbers of landslides in the Motueka area.\u00a0 One of these landslides, at Otuwhero Inlet, destroyed a house, killing the sole occupant.\u00a0 GNS Science<\/a>, via the Geonet site<\/a>, have released a report<\/a> (Page 2013) into this landslide, as well as other landslides triggered by that rainfall event.\u00a0 The report makes very interesting reading.<\/p>\n

The location of the landslide is shown below in a Google Earth oblique image.\u00a0 If you want to take a look it is at -41.017, 172.990.\u00a0 The image was collected in January 2013; I have circled the house that was struck by the landslide:<\/p>\n

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..<\/p>\n

The photo below, from the GNS report<\/a>, shows the landslide and the destroyed house:<\/p>\n

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GNS Science<\/a> \/ Nelson Mail photo of the landslide at Otuwhero Inlet<\/p><\/div>\n

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..<\/p>\n

There are a few really interesting things to note here.\u00a0 First, the crown of the landslide coincides with a track – this road is also evident on the Google Earth image above.\u00a0 Second, there is another (old) track running across the mid-point of the landslide.\u00a0 And third, the house has not been buried but rather has been pushed ahead of the landslide, and it has collapsed.<\/p>\n

The GNS Science report<\/a> provides an analysis of the rainfall at the time of the landslide.\u00a0 The nearest rain gauge, which is uncalibrated, has a 48 hour rainfall total of 336 mm, an impressively high value.\u00a0 It unsurprising that landslides occurred under these conditions.\u00a0 In terms of the landslide itself, the following are the key points from the report (although I’d recommend reading it properly):<\/p>\n