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The term “landslide” refers to a variety of processes that result in the downward and outward movement of slope-forming materials, including rock, soil, artificial fill, or a combination of these. The materials may move by falling, toppling, sliding, spreading, or flowing (UNDRR).
A landslide is a downslope movement of rock or soil, or both, occurring on the surface of rupture, either curved (rotational slide) or planar (translational slide) rupture, in which much of the material often moves as a coherent or semi coherent mass with little internal deformation (USGS).
According to the International Disaster Database of the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, in the period from 2000 to 2014, 26,000 persons have lost their lives because of landslides and flash floods while the economic losses amounted to over US$ 40 billion (OFDA/CRED).
Landslides can be classified into different types on the basis of the type of movement and the type of material involved. In brief, material in a landslide mass is either rock or soil (or both); the latter is described as earth if mainly composed of sand-sized or finer particles and debris if composed of coarse fragments. The type of movement describes the actual internal mechanics of how the landslide mass is displaced: fall, topple, slide, spread, or flow. Thus, landslides are described using two terms that refer respectively to material and movement, that is rockfall, debris flow, and so forth. Landslides may also form a complex failure encompassing more than one type of movement that is, rock slide and debris flow (USGS).
The primary driving factor of landslides is gravity acting on a portion of a slope that is out of equilibrium. The following are some of the major landslide triggering mechanisms:
El Centro Asiático para la Reducción de Desastres (ADRC) y la Oficina de Asuntos del Espacio Ultraterrestre de las Naciones Unidas (UNOOSA) firmaron el 4 de Junio de 2009, con ocasión de la 52ª sesión de la Comisión sobre la Utilización del Espacio Ultraterrestre con Fines Pacíficos (COPUOS), el acuerdo de cooperación para el establecimiento de la Oficina Regional de Apoyo (RSO) de ADRC UN-SPIDER.
Tropical Storm Nalgae (known as Paeng in the Philippines) unleashed floods and landslides in the Philippines, killing at least 45 people.
Provinces and cities in the south were hit the hardest by the storm. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was put under a state of emergency due to severe flooding.
Authorities reported that close to 185,000 people across the country were affected by the storm.
UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER requested the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disaters on behalf of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
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Tropical Storm Megi (also known as Agaton) passed over the Philippines on 10 April, causing landslides and floods in its wake.
The storm struck the east and south coasts of the archipelago, particularly affecting Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Craga regions.
35,000 people were evacuated before the storm arrived, and it is estimated that as many as 200,000 have had to leave their homes since then to move to safer locations. Estimates suggest almost a million people may be affected by the disaster.
76 people have been reported killed due to floods and landslides, after rivers burst their banks and debris from hills was washed down, and villages near Baybay City have been badly affected.
UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER requested the activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters on behalf of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
… read moreThis article is a republished news article, created and originally published by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here.
Author: Utsav Maden, Knowledge Management and Communication Officer, ICIMOD
Nepal faces a double whammy of floods and landslides every year. Often considered a secondary hazard, landslides are usually triggered by incessant rainfall falling upon hilly and unstable slopes in Nepal’s predominantly mountainous terrain. As Nepal lies at the cusp of the Indian and Tibetan tectonic plates, it is more susceptible to earthquakes and resulting landslides. Unplanned road building and construction along unstable mountain slopes on relatively young mountain terrain…
read moreThe Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) celebrates a decade of operation as a world leader in emergency mapping, early warning tools and open-access disaster information.
For the past ten years, CEMS has provided a global service as a fully operation emergency mapping service at no cost to users and with open access data.
Some highlights on the contribution of CEMS in global disaster risk management activities:
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