On August 8th 2010, an absolutely treacherous landslide occurred in Zhouqu China killing 1117 people plus 627 missing, 300 buildings buried under mud, 66% of the county left without power and 1000 homes damaged or destroyed in addition to 3000 completely flooded. The landslide was reportedly caused by immensely heavy rainfall thought to be caused by 'Zhou Pinggen' to the contributing factor of "half a century of unrestrained logging" resulting in declined forests, setting the ecosystem out of sync. The landslide was further expanded as the blasting of debris that was damming the Bailong River creating an unstable lake that overflowed and sent a tremendous wave of water over the entire town of Zhouqu, shortly after the initial landslide. This natural disaster was so horrific due to reasons that citizens should have been warned and prepared for the event as it was foreseeable by experts from previous weather patterns and risks, however the highly controlling government system fell short to prepare citizens resulting in tremendously high death tolls and irreparable damages to the whole town. The landslide may have absolutely been prevented if geographic and geological concerns such as excessive logging, frequent earthquakes, poor weather and the terrain of the area were heeded attention to and understood, precautions may have been held in place and countless citizens and homes and buildings of Zhouqu may have survived.
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| Parts of a Landslide. |
Landslides are commonly caused by heavy, torrential rainfalls on steep slopes that can cause large masses of soil to slip and wipe out people and buildings. Landslides are definitely possible in Haiti as there are abundant mountainous terrain that during rain and storm seasons can be compromised to mud and land slides. Human causes of landslides are excavation, mining, pollution, water leakage, deforestation, loading and many more. Landslide prevention methods persist as improving surface and subsurface drainage, removing soil and rock at the head of the landslide decreasing driving pressure, buttressing the toe of the landslide and constructing piles and retaining walls using metal beams driven into the dirt to properly hold piles in place to with stand sliding mud and earth.
On August 8th 2010, an absolutely treacherous landslide occurred in Zhouqu China killing 1117 people plus 627 missing, 300 buildings buried under mud, 66% of the county left without power and 1000 homes damaged or destroyed in addition to 3000 completely flooded. The landslide was reportedly caused by immensely heavy rainfall thought to be caused by 'Zhou Pinggen' to the contributing factor of "half a century of unrestrained logging" resulting in declined forests, setting the ecosystem out of sync. The landslide was further expanded as the blasting of debris that was damming the Bailong River creating an unstable lake that overflowed and sent a tremendous wave of water over the entire town of Zhouqu, shortly after the initial landslide. This natural disaster was so horrific due to reasons that citizens should have been warned and prepared for the event as it was foreseeable by experts from previous weather patterns and risks, however the highly controlling government system fell short to prepare citizens resulting in tremendously high death tolls and irreparable damages to the whole town. The landslide may have absolutely been prevented if geographic and geological concerns such as excessive logging, frequent earthquakes, poor weather and the terrain of the area were heeded attention to and understood, precautions may have been held in place and countless citizens and homes and buildings of Zhouqu may have survived.
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