Landslide

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 Landslide in Pakistan
Landslide in Pakistan

A landslide includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows.

The primary reason for a landslide is always that there is a slope and material goes downwards because of gravity.

But there are other contributing factors as well:

  • erosion by rivers, glaciers, or ocean waves create oversteepened slopes
  • rock and soil slopes are weakened through saturation by snowmelt or heavy rains
  • earthquakes create stresses that make weak slopes fail (see liquefaction, Hope Slide)
  • volcanic eruptions produce loose ash deposits, heavy rain, and debris flows
  • vibrations from machinery, traffic, blasting and even thunder may trigger failure of weak slopes
  • excess weight from much rain or snow, stockpiling of rock or ore, from waste piles, or from man-made structures may stress weak slopes to failure and other structures
  • groundwater pressure acting to destabilise the slope
  • in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds the colluvium to bedrock.

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