Landslides are a global geological hazard that can cause significant damage, triggered by earthquakes, water runoff, and human activities. Poor land cover and steep slopes increase the risk. Management techniques include retaining walls, ground covers, and building codes to limit human activities in landslide-prone areas.
Landslides are downward flows of rock, earth, and other materials. Landslides can cause a great deal of damage, especially when they are large, and are a geological hazard of worldwide concern, as they can happen anywhere at any time. A number of measures can be taken to prevent landslides and reduce their severity, and these measures are often used in areas where landslides are common, such as the infamous Devil’s Slide in California.
In a landslide, the materials are dry and can include rocks, earth, trees, and structures that are swept along with the falling material. Landslides can be caused by earthquakes, destabilizations from underground water runoff, the collapse of overhanging rocks, and simply a battle with gravity. Human activities such as heavy construction, weakening the earth, and removing land cover such as plants and trees can also trigger landslides. When a landslide involves mud and wet material, it is called a landslide; mudslides can follow storms and floods.
Land affected by a landslide is typically unstable. One of the most common reasons for instability is poor land cover. Trees and plants, especially when they are deeply rooted, can hold soil so that it cannot slip, even on very steep slopes. If the ground cover is loose or poorly rooted, rocks and loose materials can begin to slide. Slides also occur on very steep slopes, especially if the slopes include sheer drops.
Landslide disasters occur regularly. A landslide can destroy homes, destroy a highway, or trigger more catastrophic events like a flood if it happens in the wrong place at the wrong time. Human settlements around the world are built near cliffs and mountains prone to landslides, which can have tragic consequences. Geological history has a number of examples of landslides that were large enough to move entire mountains and, in the modern era, several landslide disasters such as the Monte Toc landslide in Italy, the 1991 Pubjabi landslide in India and the Khait in Russia claimed thousands of lives and inflicted considerable damage.
Landslide management techniques may include creating retaining walls that trap landslides before they can cause damage, growing ground covers to hold topsoil in place, and building codes that prohibit building near landslide-prone areas in so that the structures are not damaged in the event of a fall and slides occur. Human activities that can increase the risk of landslides may also be limited, just as activities that contribute to avalanches are limited in regions where avalanches are frequent.
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