University of Southern Mindanao

Senior High School

Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

1999 CHERRY HILLS SUBDIVISION 2006 SOUTHERN LEYTE MUDSLIDE

LANDSLIDE
DATE & On or about 8:00 pm. on August 02, 1999, a A massive landslide devastated the
LOCATION landslide occurred on a slope where Cherry community of Barangay Guinsaugon,
Hills Subdivision is located, in barangay San Municipality of St. Bernard, Southern Leyte
Luis, Antipolo City. Province, Philippines, at about 10:30 local
time on 17 February The landslide occurred
along the steep fault scarp of the Philippine
Fault Zone (PFZ) a large and active tectonic
structure that traverses the entire length of
the Philippines [Allen, 1962]. Barangay
Guinsaugon is located at the foot of the
scarp, directly in the path of the downward
moving mass of earth.

Cherry Hills subdivision was home to hundreds

of families paying-off low cost, concrete
houses. The subdivision was owned and
developed by Tirso Santillan, president of
Philjas Corporation. The subdivision was
situated in an elevated terrain cut along the
perches of the Sierra Madre mountains.

Besides its location on the mountain cuts,

Cherry Hill was flanked by two subdivision on
its either sides.The eastern summit is at
elevation of 255 meters while the western side
is at elevation of 233 meters. The subdivision
cut from the mountain side is approximately 26
meters at its deepest

The subdivision encompasses five hectares with

paved roads. The subdivision consisted of light-
roofed one or two-storey houses with hollow
block wall construction that are either single-
detached or row houses.
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines
ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez
CAUSES University of the Philippines geologists who looked
into the disaster argued that while heavy rains may
have set off the landslide, certain geological traits of
the area where the subdivision stood made it
vulnerable. Structural interventions could have
averted the disaster, but that would have made the
cost of the project prohibitive for the low-income
sector. Rainfall measurements three days prior to
the landslide were equivalent to 120 days of normal
rainfall in a rainy season, according to a report of a
fact-finding committee. Actual rainfall recorded
during that period totaled 523.3 millimeters. The
normal amount of rainfall for the entire month of
August, based on a 35-year record in the weather
bureau’s Quezon City observation station, was
517.3 millimeters.
The Cherry Hills landslide in Rizal is attributed to
many compounding factors. These are:
1) the effects of 3 consecutive days of continuous
rainfall (Aurelio, 2004) that led to water saturation
and buildup of pore pressure on the slide surface;
2) strength degradation of the sedimentary layers
underlying the mountain due to shrinkage cracking
and expansion from prolonged water saturation;
3.) intense fracturing of the rock mass due to its
proximity to the Binangonan Fault;
4) unfavorable 8° dip angle of the rock layers to the
southwest and;
5) destablization of slopes due to large cuts made
by quarrying operations prior to the development
of the Cherry Hills subdivision. The combined
effects of natural and man-made conditions lead to
instability of the slopes where the subdivision was
built, which was triggered to collapse by continuous
heavy monsoon rains following an El-Niño year.
Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B
Logging and mining done in the area three
decades ago was the main culprit. It created a
"dangerous combination" that produced a
"classic landslide scenario".
However, local government officials and
eyewitnesses claimed anecdotally that the area
was "well forested" and the governor's office said
that deforestation from mining and logging
activities were not the causal factor, although no
scientific evidence was presented to back the
claims. The governor’s office did not explain why
the soil was so unstable at the time of the slide,
after millennia of stability.
Experts did agree that torrential rains lasting two
weeks before the mudslide were the tipping
point that precipitated the disaster. Rainfall
amounting to nearly 1,200 millimetres (47 in)
over the period of 4–14 February loosened the
soil so much that the resulting sludge and rocks
thundered down the slopes of nearby Mount
Can-abag, virtually disintegrating it. The La Niña
weather phenomenon was blamed for the non-
stop rains that occurred in the province, as well
as in the Caraga region, which is due south of
Leyte. San Francisco, Agusan del Sur mayor Carie
Ladernora declared the state of calamity on her
town by February 12, 2006.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and
Seismology recorded a magnitude 2.6 earthquake
in Southern Leyte just prior to the landslide
although the effects of this are unclear.
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

Investigations showed that the area has an average

slope of about twenty per cent (20%) enough to
trigger downslope movements of any unstable
materials, conditions permitting. The nature and
character of the materials were also contributing
factors in this incident as well as human
intervention in the form of developments directly
on the slopes. Results also showed that the
introduction of water (large amount of rains fell
over the area) contributed partly in triggering the
movement of the materials. It was also found out
that as early as four to five months from the time of
the disaster, the area has manifested repeated signs
indicative of ground movements.
EFFECTS As many as 109 people died in the Philippines when The rain-induced landslide carried 1.2 billion
Typhoon Olga provoked torrential rains and cubic meters of mud and boulders, covering 300
flooding throughout much of South East Asia in hectares of the barangay and killing 1,500 people
early August. The areas worst affected were Manila, in minutes.
Pampanga, Rizal and Pangasinan. Over 73,000
people were forced to leave their homes and seek Because of the speed of text messages and the
shelter and food in local halls, schools and clubs. fact that the landslide was seen by those
Some 900 families were evacuated from the town traversing the national highway, response from
of Valenzuela as flood water rose to dangerous the authorities came almost immediately.
heights.
But just 8 days after the disaster struck, the local
The majority of the deaths were concentrated in government called off rescue efforts, as the
one small housing estate—the Cherry Hills drying mud gave little to no chance of survival for
subdivision in Antipolo, a Manila suburb, and home those trapped inside buried structures.
to hundreds of families paying off low-cost,
concrete houses. On August 3 the subdivision By that time, only 137 bodies and 15 body parts
became a death trap when its foundations filled had been recovered. Some 973 remained missing,
with water and the whole complex slid down the hill all presumed dead.
on which it was built.
3272 people were living in 5 registered
Parts of Cherry Hills were buried in a massive evacuation centers in St. Bernard Municipality.
landslide on Aug. 12, 1999, after days of rain. More Residents included village of Guinsaugon and
than 300 homes were buried or destroyed when two neighboring villages who were partially
mud came rushing down. People were trapped in affected by the original landslides and those from
their homes and had to be dug out. Fifty-nine villages in the vicinity that have been
perished. preemptively evacuated.
3850 family (18862 people) have been affected
by the preemptive evacuations in three other
municipalities of Southern Leyte- Sogod, Liluan
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

and San Francisco. Where Geo hazard

assessments had indicated that there were high
levels of risk of additional landslides.

PICTURES
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

BOLIDE IMPACT

CAUSES
Meteor showers occur when the earth in its orbit
around the Sun passes through debris left over from
the disintegration of comets. Although the earth's
orbit around the Sun is almost circular, most comets
travel in orbits that are highly elongated ellipses. As a
result, some comets have orbits that intersect or
partially overlap the earth's path.
EFFECTS
It may seem like meteors crashing to Earth are rare,
but more than 48 tons of debris falls into Earth's
atmosphere every single day. Most of this comes in
the form of dust and micrometeorites that burn up
instantly, but on rare occasions, larger rocks may fall
into the planet's gravity well. Depending on the size
of the object, an impact can cause a number of
different effects, and a large enough asteroid could
drastically change life on Earth.

A massive asteroid impact would create long-term

Because a comet's nucleus is made up of a
combination of icy materials and loosely consolidated
"dirt," when a comet is heated by passing close to the
Sun, it more or less slowly disintegrates, producing the
visible tail. The rocky debris, consisting of mostly sand- Another dangerous effect of an asteroid strike would
size particles, continues in an elongated orbit around
the Sun close to that of its parent comet. When the
earth intersects this orbit in its annual trip, it can run enough to disrupt the protective layer of ozone high
into this debris, which burns up on entry into the
earth's atmosphere, producing a visible shower of
meteors.
Image: MIKE COOP, California Meteor Society, NASA
METEOR SHOWERS.This one, seen from Henry Coe
State Park, Calif. on November 18, 1995, resulted from
changes in the atmosphere and climate of the planet.
Upon impact, vaporized dirt and rock would fill the
atmosphere, blocking sunlight and creating a state of
near-permanent darkness and winter-like conditions.
After the particles in the atmosphere settle, an
increase in greenhouse gases from impact fires and
released stores in the crater area could actually
increase temperatures substantially due to an
increased greenhouse effect. The severity and length
of each of these phases would depend on the size of
the impact, with a one or two kilometer-wide
asteroid causing enough damage to trigger
worldwide disturbances for years.
be damage to the ozone layer. The energy imparted
to the atmosphere by the incoming object would be
in the stratosphere, drastically increasing the amount
of ultraviolet light that made it to the surface. This
would increase global cancer rates, affect the growth
of plants and animals and possibly lead to genetic
mutations over the period of increased exposure.
Depending on the size of the asteroid, this could last
for as much as two years.
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

Leonid crossing Earth's path.
Meteor showers associated with particular comet
orbits occur at about the same time each year,
because it is at those points in the earth's orbit that
the collisions occur. However, because some parts of
the comet's path are richer in debris than others, the
strength of a meteor shower may vary from one year
to the next. Typically a meteor shower will be
strongest when the earth crosses the comet's path
shortly after the parent comet has passed.
The major source of danger from space debris is that
a large asteroid, one at least five kilometers in
diameter, could cause enough damage to threaten
life on this planet. The Alvarez Hypothesis suggests
that the end of the Cretaceous period saw a massive
asteroid impact that changed the climate across the
globe and wiped out the dinosaurs. The Chicxulub
crater on the Yucatan Peninsula offers some evidence
for this theory. For this reason, the Near-Earth Object
program at NASA attempts to identify and catalog
large asteroids so that astronomers can identify
those whose orbits pose a threat to the planet.
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

COASTAL EROSION

CAUSES
 Input of coastal defences along the coast
 Removal of sediment offshore - in 2000,
3811044 tones was dredged illegally offshore.
 Housing development
 Cliff is made up soft glacial material
EFFECTS
 Could have an affect on places further down
the coastline, because of longshore drift and
build up of material
 Sediment is taken away which means that
there is less sediment on the beach to protect
the coastline against the waves.

 Waves have a long fetch
 The beaches are narrow
There are many factors for cause of Coastal Erosion
like natural cause, Physical Causes and Human causes.
 Can make the soil/rock weaker which makes it
more vulnerable to erosion.
 The material is easily eroded by the waves
which means that the cliff is quickly eroded
and the waves are more effective

Waves: Waves are the main cause of coastal erosion.  The waves can build up a lot of energy
waves striking a cliff face compress air in cracks on because of the fetch
the cliff face. This exerts pressure on the surrounding  There is less sediment to protect the coastline
rock, and can progressively splinter and remove
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines
ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez
pieces. Over time, the cracks can grow, sometimes
forming a cave. The splinters fall to the sea bed where
they are subjected to further wave action. The higher
the wave energy, the higher the rate of erosion (all
other things being equal). Wave energy is the result
of three factors: the speed of the wind blowing over
the surface of the sea, the length of fetch (i.e., the
distance of sea over which the wind has been
blowing) and the length of time that the wind has
been blowing for. Corrasion or otherwise known as
abrasion occurs when waves break on cliff faces and
slowly erode it. As the sea pounds cliff faces it also
uses the scree from other wave actions to batter and
break off pieces of rock from higher up the cliff face
which can be used for this same wave action and
attrition. Transport gradient: One cause of natural
coastal erosion is an increasing gradient in transport
rate in the direction of the net transport. This can be
due to gradients in the wave conditions at certain
stretches, a curved coastline, or special bathymetric
conditions.
Loss of sand: the loss of sand inland due to breaching
and over-wash of a barrier island and wind transport.
Offshore loss during extreme wave and storm surge
conditions. The high waves cause the bars to move
seawards and the high storm surges also cause an
offshore movement of sand due to non-equilibrium in
the profile during the high surge. The loss of sand to
an accumulative beach at the tip of a sand spit and
into deep water at the leeward of the tip of a sand
spit at the termination point of a littoral cell.
Geomorphology: The geomorphology of the coastline
will also affect the rate of erosion. Geomorphology is
defined as the science of landforms with an emphasis
on their origin, evolution, form, and distribution
across the physical landscape. Geomorphologists seek
to understand why landscapes look the way they do,
Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B
On non-rocky coasts, coastal erosion results in rock
formations in areas where the coastline contains rock
layers or fracture zones with varying resistance to
erosion. Softer areas become eroded much faster
than harder ones, which typically result in landforms
such as tunnels, bridges, columns, and pillars. Over
time the coast generally evens out. The softer areas
fill up with sediment eroded from hard areas, and
rock formations are eroded away. Also abrasion
commonly happens in areas where there are strong
winds, loose sand, and soft rocks. The blowing of
millions of sharp sand grains creates a sandblasting
effect. This effect helps to erode, smooth and polish
rocks. The definition of abrasion is grinding and
wearing away of rock surfaces through the
mechanical action of other rock or sand particles.
A place where erosion of a cliffed coast has occurred
is at Wamberal in the Central Coast region of New
South Wales where houses built on top of the cliffs
began to collapse into the sea. This is due to waves
causing erosion of the primarily sedimentary material
on which the buildings foundations sit.
Dunwich, the capital of the English medieval wool
trade, disappeared over the period of a few centuries
due to redistribution of sediment by waves. Human
interference can also increase coastal erosion:
Hallsands in Devon, England, was a coastal village that
washed away over the course of a year, an event
directly caused by dredging of shingle in the bay in
front of it.
The California coast, which has soft cliffs of
sedimentary rock and is heavily populated, regularly
has incidents of housing damage as cliffs erodes .
Devil's Slide, Santa Barbara, the coast just north of
Ensenada, and Malibu are regularly affected.
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

to understand landform history and dynamics and to
predict changes through a combination of field
observations, physical experiments and numerical
modeling. Geomorphologists work within disciplines
such as physical geography, geology, geodesy,
engineering geology, archaeology and geotechnical
engineering. This broad base of interests contributes
to many research styles and interests within the field.
An understanding of geomorphology and its
processes is therefore essential to the understanding
of physical geography. A wider beach will cause more
wave energy to be lost due to friction before the
waves can break. Shingle and pebbles will allow more
water to infiltrate and cause more wave energy to be
lost due to friction, while sandy beaches allow less
infiltration and cause less friction and so allow for a
higher rate of erosion.
Protuding areas: The loss of material from a
protruding area to one or two sides is a natural cause
of coastal erosion. This typically happens at
till/sandstone headlands and at the tip of deltas,
which do not receive sufficient material from the river
due to natural shifting of the river alignment.
The Holderness coastline on the east coast of
England, just north of the Humber Estuary, is one of
the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe due to its soft
clay cliffs and powerful waves. Groynes and other
artificial measures to keep it under control has only
accelerated the process further down the coast,
because longshore drift starves the beaches of sand,
leaving them more exposed. The White Cliffs of Dover
have also been affected.
Fort Ricasoli, a historic 17th century fortress in Malta
is being threatened by coastal erosion, as it was built
on a fault in the headland which is prone to erosion. A
small part of one of the bastion walls has already
collapsed since the land under it has eroded, and
there are cracks in other walls as well.
In El Campello, Spain, the erosion and failure of a
Roman farm fish excavated on rock during the first
century B.C. was exacerbated by the construction of a
close sport harbor.

Geology: The geology of the coastline will also affect

the rate of erosion. If the different rock types run
parallel to the coastline (concordant), the sea will only
be able to break through more resistant rocks in a few
places. Often a gradient in the (natural) occurring
longshore sediment transports is the reason of
structural erosion.
 University of Southern Mindanao
Senior High School
Kabacan, Cotabato
Philippines

ASSIGNMENT
Name: Gwyneth Koleen Lopez Grade/Section: 12-STEM-B

REFERENCES:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_erosion

https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-effects-of-coastal-erosion-on-shoreline-features.html

http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/Natural_Disasters/impacts.html

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-causes-a-meteor-show/

http://www.ehso.com/climatechange/climatechangecauses-meteorites.php

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0012821X8790046X

https://education.seattlepi.com/long-term-effects-asteroid-impact-earth-4601.html

https://prezi.com/s_at2os-4r5g/cherry-hills-subdivisionhyatt-hotel-earthquake/

https://www.adrc.asia/countryreport/PHL/PHLeng99/Philippines99.htm

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Aftermath-of-the-1999-Cherry-Hills-Subdivision-Landslide-in-hilly-sub-
urban-Metro-Manila_fig1_242396979

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253901619_Causes_of_the_17_February_2006_Southern_Leyte_L
andslide

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/50766-guinsaugon-landslide

https://wikivisually.com/wiki/1999_Cherry_Hills_subdivision_landslide

https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/84026-2006-guinsaugon-landslide-lessons

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/212440-list-deadly-landslides-philippines

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264319597_Scientists_investigate_recent_Philippine_landslide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Southern_Leyte_mudslide