A landslide is the very rapid movement of regolith down a very steep slope. A landslide occurs when the slope becomes unstable, which can be caused by road-building, quarrying, earthquakes or sea erosion.
Case Study: Mao County Landslide, 2017 Mao County
CHINA The village before the landslide Sichuan province
… and after
On 24 June 2017, a devastating landslide occurred in Mao County in southwestern China. The region contains brittle, unstable mountains that are prone to landslides and tremors. After a night of rain and without warning, the landslide struck at around 5.40 a.m., when most residents in the village were asleep.
120
The landslide buried 1.6 kilometres of road and blocked a two-kilometre section of river. The local government said that an estimated eight million cubic metres of earth and rock – equivalent to more than 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools – slid down the mountain. Ten people were confirmed dead, with a further 118 missing.
