The sudden downslope movement of rock, soil and debris under the force of gravity, triggered when a slope's material can no longer resist gravity's pull, commonly following heavy rainfall, an earthquake, volcanic activity or human alteration of a hillside. Landslides range from a slow, barely perceptible creep to a catastrophic, fast-moving collapse capable of burying entire communities within seconds, and they are among the most geographically widespread natural hazards, occurring on any sufficiently steep slope where the underlying material becomes unstable.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Earthquake-triggered landslides are one of the most common and destructive secondary hazards of strong seismic shaking on steep or saturated slopes.
A landslide entering a body of water, especially a submarine or coastal slide, can directly generate a tsunami by displacing a large volume of water, as documented at Lituya Bay in 1958.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.