Landslide

Definition

Natural Hazard
A natural hazard is a threat of a naturally occurring event will have a negative
effect on humans.   This negative effect is what we call a natural disaster.  In other
words when the hazardous threat actually happens and harms humans, we call the
event a natural disaster.

Natural Hazards (and the resulting disasters) are the result of naturally occurring
processes that have operated throughout Earth's history.  
Landslide

 The term “landslide” describes many types of downhill earth movements ranging
from rapidly moving catastrophic rock avalanches and debris flows in mountainous
regions to more slowly moving earth slides.
 Some landslides move slowly and cause damage gradually, whereas others move so
rapidly that they can destroy property and take lives suddenly and unexpectedly.
 Gravity is generally the force driving landslide movement.
 Factors that trigger landslide movement include heavy rainfall, erosion, poor
construction practices, freezing and thawing, earthquake shaking, and volcanic
eruptions.
 Landslides are typically associated with periods of heavy rainfall or rapid snowmelt
and tend to worsen the effects of flooding. Areas burned by forest and brush fires are
particularly susceptible to landslides.
LANDSLIDE CAUSES

 1. Geological causes 
a. Weak or sensitive materials 
b. Weathered materials 
c. Sheared, jointed, or fissured materials 
d. Adversely oriented discontinuity (bedding, schistosity, fault, unconformity,
contact, and so forth) 
e. Contrast in permeability and/or stiffness of materials
 2. Morphological causes 
a. Tectonic or volcanic uplift 
b. Glacial rebound 
c. Fluvial, wave, or glacial erosion of slope toe or lateral margins 
d. Subterranean erosion (solution, piping) 
e. Deposition loading slope or its crest 
f. Vegetation removal (by fire, drought) 
g. Thawing 
h. Freeze-and-thaw weathering 
i. Shrink-and-swell weathering
 3. Human causes 
a. Excavation of slope or its toe 
b. Loading of slope or its crest 
c. Drawdown (of reservoirs) 
d. Deforestation 
e. Irrigation 
f. Mining 
g. Artificial vibration 
h. Water leakage from utilities
Landslide Types
Landslides or slope movements can be classified in many ways. There are many
attributes used as criteria for identification and classification including:

 Rate of movement: This ranges from very slow creep (millimetres/year) to

extremely rapid (metres/second).
 Type of material: Landslides are composed of bedrock, unconsolidated sediment
and/or organic debris.
 Nature of movement: The moving debris can slide, slump, flow or fall.
common landslide types are:

 Slide: movement parallel to planes of weakness and occasionally parallel to

slope.
Creep: gradual movement of slope materials

Slump: complex movement of materials on a

slope; includes rotational slump.
Topple: the end-over-end motion of rock
down a slope.

Fall: material free falls.

 Flow: viscous to fluid-like motion of debris.

Torrent::a sporadic and sudden channelized

discharge of water and debris.
How can I protect myself from
landslide?
 Landslides generally happen where they have occurred in the past, and in identifiable hazard
locations. Areas that are prone to landslides include existing old landslides, the bases of steep slopes,
the bases of drainage channels, and developed hillsides where leach-field septic systems are used.

Areas that are typically considered safe from landslides include areas that have not moved in the
past; relatively flat areas away from sudden changes in slope; and areas at the top of or along ridges,
but set back from the edge of slopes.

People can reduce their personal risk by learning about potential local landslide hazards and taking
steps to reduce those hazards.

Landslides are usually isolated events occurring without public warning. If you live in a landslide-
prone area, be alert, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt or after a wildfire. If
you see signs of a landslide or suspect a landslide may occur, you yourself must make the decision to
evacuate.