Landslides are known as mass movements of rock, debris or earth down a slope. They are gravity driven geological phenomena that occur as a result of deep slope failure. A website providing basic information for general audience describes three distinct physical events occur during a landslide: the initial slope failure, the subsequent transport, and the final deposition of the slide materials. These mass movements can vary from instantaneous collapses to slow gradual slides and are mostly unpredictable.Usually a number of reasons will contribute towards a landslide. These can be a collective of physical causes or a combination of natural and human activity.Distinct events can also trigger landslips. Few of the natural causes of landslides include seismic activity, undercutting caused by river or wave erosion, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and prolonged rainfall. Some of the human causes include deforestation, Undercutting and overloading of unstable slopes and vibrations caused by construction activity. This essay will firstly discuss about how landslides occur. Then it will discuss few of the physical causes of landslides by analysing two disasters that has occurred in the recent past.One of these two disasters was a result of one distinct event while the other was triggered as a result of a combination of physical reasons. It will also address a few options and measures that can be taken in order to reduce the risk of damage from landslides. Landslides are generally classified as mass movement material down a slope. Once a landslide is triggered, material are transported through mechanisms such as sliding, flowing and falling. However, not all slopes are susceptible to landslides.Suseptibility of a slope depends on the configu... ... middle of paper ... ...nditions. In conclusion, landslides are natural hazards that involve downward movement of earth material.Seisemic activities and human activity leads to instability, causing slope failures. Disasters can occur as a result of one distinct natural even or a combination of events. Most damage is caused due to unpreparedness and lack of knowledge. Landslide risk reduction strategies have increased along with the increase in the occurrence of landslides. Assessment of high risk areas can provide the necessary knowledge needed to understand the risks associated with in the surrounding environment. Strategies such as planning and control, acceptance and adding warning systems are the most cost –effective ways to reduce damages caused by landslides; however engineering solutions are the most effective at reducing the probability of landslides but the downfall is the costs.
The eruptions of Mount Rainier produce lahar mudflows which are similar to pyroclastic flows except they contain more water. These mudflows carry debris of volcanic ash and boulders that produce lava flows and have the consistency of concrete flowing down a mountain (C.M. Riley). Lahars can flow up to 100 kilometers per hour and can extend out to more than 300 kilometers in distance. Because they are hard to predict, give off little warning signs, and move so rapidly through valleys, lahar slides are considered to be one of the most deadly volcanic hazards.
The film “When the Levees Broke” of spike lee is a four part series covering the events that took place before and after the devastation of Katrina on New Orleans and its residents. In August 2005, New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. People were unprepared for the disaster. As the city was flooding, levees safeguard failed the city, which caused the city to go underwater. In the film, part 1 shows hurricane Katrina and it’s impact. The flooding, rescue efforts and people trying to survive the disaster. Part 2 shows the aftermath with people that were evacuated waiting for help to come to the city. It was a very slow response to help and everyone was just waiting. Part 3 shows how people started to recover. Many hoped to return to their
Often, the effects of Mountain top Removal are disastrous, the wildlife habitat is damaged and vegetation loss usually leads to numerous floods and landslides. When explosives are used, fly rock, ...
Gene understands that the story does not end with just the damages but also what it contributes to the future. It has brought with it new measures in structural development, social relationships and insurance holding. It is a major step to the lessening of the impact of future disasters.
Canada is a great place to live. Winnipeg… is good enough. Winnipeg is known for its diverse population, festive multiculturalism, beautiful architecture, vast prairie land and The Jets. One thing Winnipeg is definitely not known for, being a geological hazards hot spot. These hazards are geological events that take place, which have an impact on civilization. Canada is impacted by a wide scope of events ranging from earthquakes to fires. However, Winnipeg is lucky to be conveniently located away from any seismic activity, any threat of coastal dangers, any mountain risks and lastly it is absent of even the slightest volcano. Therefore, what Winnipeg lacks in attraction it makes up for in safety. In spite of its perceived security this major Canadian city is unfortunately prone to some very serious dangers. It is home to very cold, lengthy winters, dreadful storms that lead to wet springs. Scientifically speaking “geohazards are any geological or hydrological process that poses a threat to people and/or their property” (Bilderback, 2013). Thus, the geological hazards that will be discussed in this paper are flooding, landslides, and severe weather including tornadoes and storms.
Natural disasters affect the lives of people in torturous ways. It almost always costs the lives of innocent bystanders. Costs of the cleanup can be in the billions of dollars. It is disturbing to realize the damage and destruction that nature is capable of releasing on humans at any moment. Both the eruption of Mount St. Helens and The Great Mississippi River Flood are different in many ways, but the same in that they both affected people negatively.
Ideally, technology played a role in saving the situation and at the same time, it inconvenienced some of the operations. Various technologies have been put in place to ensure that such a catastrophe does not o...
In the end I would like to say that disasters are inevitable so the authorities should be prepare beforehand and when the disaster actually occurs the response should be fast and effective. There after the recovery from the loss occurred should be well planned and future planning should be done so that much better protection steps can prevent larger damage.
An earthquake is the shaking of the ground caused by sudden release of energy inside the earth's crust. It's the breaking and moving of tectonic plates along a fault line. Earthquakes can range in size from weak where we don't feel them to extremely violent where they actually thow people around and destroy cities. They may be a result of geological faults or other activites such as volcanoes, landslides, mine blasts and nuclear tests. An earthquake is not always naturally caused.
Hydraulic Action, when waves hit the cliff, air is forced into cracks, and then as the wave retreats this air expands explosively. Over time the cracks enlarge, weakening the base of the cliff causing erosion.
... although we may never be able to understand exactly what soil failures can occur when a natural disasters take place, as time goes on and testing instruments and materials advance we will hopefully have a better understanding of what we can do to avoid soil failures and come up with a better and more sufficient method of improving the soils structure and strength permanently. While researching the information for this report I feel I have a much better understanding for construction geo-technics and foundations especially regarding the deformation, liquefaction and pile information related to this specific event. I hope to carry the information I have learned from this event into the construction field and apply them towards an authentic project that’s taking place and know that the information, regarding soils, I have given input on will be precise and accurate.
Living in Bangladesh, we have seen quite disastrous mudslides from the past few years. Mudslide is also called a landslide or a land slip. It is a downward mass movement of earth or rock on unstable slopes, including many forms resulting from differences in rock structure, coherence of material involved, degree of slope, amount of included water, extent of natural or artificial undercutting at the base of the slope, relative rate of movement, and relative quantity of material involved. There are numerous facts that can cause a mudslide and there are also numerous effects that it can cause us.
Authorities have attempted to implement codes or regulations, but that has proved to be very difficult tasks becasue there are many variables that effect the dynamic response of buildings. One way to try to avoid disaster is to evaluate seismic risk is to look at a buildings hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and location. Hazards are, for example, landslides ad soil type. Exposure is a building's occupancy and function. Vulnerability is the expected performance of a building's system, and location is how often earthquakes occur in the area. (Lagorio)
Earthquakes belong to the class of most disastrous natural hazards. They result in unexpected and tremendous earth movements. These movements results from dissemination of an enormous amount of intense energy in form of seismic waves which are detected by use of seismograms. The impact of earthquakes leaves behind several landmarks including: destruction of property, extensive disruption of services like sewer and water lines, loss of life, and causes instability in both economic and social components of the affected nation (Webcache 2).
Johns Hopkins University. (2009, March). In disaster-prone areas, construction needs a new approach. Retrieved from http://phys.org/news157051992.html