Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green
manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a
farm. Organic farming excludes or strictly limits the use of manufactured fertilizers, pesticides
(which include herbicides, insecticides and fungicides), plant growth regulators such as
hormones, livestock antibiotics, food additives, and genetically modified organisms.[1]
Organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations,
based in large part on the standards set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM), an international umbrella organization for organic farming organizations
established in 1972[2]. IFOAM defines the overarching goal of organic farming as:
"Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and
people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions,
rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines tradition,
innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a
good quality of life for all involved.."
—International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements[3]
Since 1990, the market for organic products has grown from nothing, reaching $55 billion in
2009 according to Organic Monitor (www.organicmonitor.com). This demand has driven a
similar increase in organically managed farmland. Approximately 37,000,000 hectares
(91,000,000 acres) worldwide are now farmed organically, representing approximately 0.9
percent of total world farmland (2009)
History
Main article: History of organic farming
The organic movement began in the 1940s as a reaction to agriculture's growing reliance on
synthetic fertilizers. Artificial fertilizers had been created during the 18th century, initially with
superphosphates and then ammonia-based fertilizers mass-produced using the Haber-Bosch
process developed during World War I. These early fertilizers were cheap, powerful, and easy to
transport in bulk. Similar advances occurred in chemical pesticides in the 1940s, leading to the
decade being referred to as the 'pesticide era'.[4]
Sir Albert Howard is widely considered to be the father of organic farming.[5] Further work was
done by J.I. Rodale in the United States, Lady Eve Balfour in the United Kingdom, and many
others across the world.
Organic farming has made up only a fraction of total agricultural output from its beginning until
today. Increasing environmental awareness in the general population has transformed the
originally supply-driven movement to a demand-driven one. Premium prices and some
government subsidies attracted farmers. In the developing world, many producers farm
according to traditional methods which are comparable to organic farming but are not certified.
In other cases, farmers in the developing world have converted for economic reasons.[6]
[edit] Methods
Main article: Organic farming methods
 Organic cultivation of mixed vegetables in Capay, California. Note the hedgerow in the
background.
"An organic farm, properly speaking, is not one that uses certain methods and substances and
avoids others; it is a farm whose structure is formed in imitation of the structure of a natural
system that has the integrity, the independence and the benign dependence of an organism"
—Wendell Berry, "The Gift of Good Land"
[edit] Soil management
Plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as micronutrients and symbiotic
relationships with fungi and other organisms to flourish, but getting enough nitrogen, and
particularly synchronization so that plants get enough nitrogen at the right time (when plants
need it most), is likely the greatest challenge for organic farmers.[7] Crop rotation and green
manure ("cover crops") help to provide nitrogen through legumes (more precisely, the Fabaceae
family) which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere through symbiosis with rhizobial bacteria.
Intercropping, which is sometimes used for insect and disease control, can also increase soil
nutrients, but the competition between the legume and the crop can be problematic and wider
spacing between crop rows is required. Crop residues can be ploughed back into the soil, and
different plants leave different amounts of nitrogen, potentially aiding synchronization.[7] Organic
farmers also use animal manure, certain processed fertilizers such as seed meal and various
mineral powders such as rock phosphate and greensand, a naturally occurring form of potash
which provides potassium. Together these methods help to control erosion. In some cases pH
may need to be amended. Natural pH amendments include lime and sulfur, but in the U.S. some
compounds such as iron sulfate, <a href="/wiki/Aluminum
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Beekeeping
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Honey seeker depicted on 8000 year old cave painting near Valencia, Spain[1]

Beekeeping (or apiculture, from Latin apis, bee) is the maintenance of honey bee colonies,
commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper (or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect honey
and other products of the hive (including beeswax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly), to pollinate
crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an
apiary or "bee yard".
[edit] History of beekeeping
[edit] Origins
There are more than 20,000 species of wild bees.[2] Many species are solitary,[3] and many others
rear their young in burrows and small colonies, like mason bees and bumblebees. Beekeeping, or
apiculture, is concerned with the practical management of the social species of honey bees,
which live in large colonies of up to 100,000 individuals. In Europe and America the species
universally managed by beekeepers is the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera). This species has
several sub-species or regional varieties, such as the Italian bee (Apis mellifera ligustica ),
European dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera), and the Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera
carnica). In the tropics, other species of social bee are managed for honey production, including
Apis cerana.
All of the Apis mellifera sub-species are capable of inter-breeding and hybridizing. Many bee
breeding companies strive to selectively breed and hybridize varieties to produce desirable
qualities: disease and parasite resistance, good honey production, swarming behaviour reduction,
prolific breeding, and mild disposition. Some of these hybrids are marketed under specific brand
names, such as the Buckfast Bee or Midnite Bee. The advantages of the initial F1 hybrids
produced by these crosses include: hybrid vigor, increased honey productivity, and greater
disease resistance. The disadvantage is that in subsequent generations these advantages may fade
away and hybrids tend to be very defensive and aggressive.
[edit] Wild honey harvesting
Collecting honey from wild bee colonies is one of the most ancient human activities and is still
practiced by aboriginal societies in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. Some of
the earliest evidence of gathering honey from wild colonies is from rock paintings, dating to
around 13,000 BCE. Gathering honey from wild bee colonies is usually done by subduing the
bees with smoke and breaking open the tree or rocks where the colony is located, often resulting
in the physical destruction of the nest location.
[edit] Domestication of wild bees
At some point humans began to domesticate wild bees in artificial hives made from hollow logs,
wooden boxes, pottery vessels, and woven straw baskets or "skeps". Honeybees were kept in
Egypt from antiquity.[4] On the walls of the sun temple of Nyuserre Ini from the 5th Dynasty,
before 2422 BCE, workers are depicted blowing smoke into hives as they are removing
honeycombs.[5] Inscriptions detailing the production of honey are found on the tomb of Pabasa
from the 26th Dynasty (circa 650 BCE), depicting pouring honey in jars and cylindrical hives.[6]
Sealed pots of honey were found in the grave goods of Pharaohs such as Tutankhamun.
In prehistoric Greece (Crete and Mycenae), there existed a system of high-status apiculture, as
can be concluded from the finds of hives, smoking pots, honey extractors and other beekeeping
paraphernalia in Knossos. Beekeeping was considered a highly valued industry controlled by
beekeeping overseers — owners of gold rings depicting apiculture scenes rather that religious
ones as they have been reinterpreted recently, contra Sir Arthur Evans.[7]
Archaeological finds relating to beekeeping have been discovered at Rehov, a Bronze- and Iron
Age archaeological site in the Jordan Valley, Israel.[8] Thirty intact hives, made of straw and
unbaked clay, were discovered by archaeologist Amihai Mazar of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem in the ruins of the city, dating from about 900 BCE. The hives were found in orderly
rows, three high, in a manner that could have accommodated around 100 hives, held more than 1
million bees and had a potential annual yield of 500 kilograms of honey and 70 kilograms of
beeswax, according to Mazar, and are evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in
ancient Israel 3,000 years ago.[9] Ezra Marcus, an expert from the University of Haifa, said the
finding was a glimpse of ancient beekeeping seen in texts and ancient art from the Near East.[10]
[11]

In ancient Greece, aspects of the lives of bees and beekeeping are discussed at length by
Aristotle. Beekeeping was also documented by the Roman writers Virgil, Gaius Julius Hyginus,
Varro, and Columella.
The art of beekeeping appeared in ancient China for a long time and hardly traceable to its
origin. In the book "Golden Rules of Business Success" written by Fan Li (or Tao Zhu Gong)
during the Spring and Autumn Period there are some parts mentioning the art of beekeeping and
the importance of the quality of the wooden box for bee keeping that can affect the quality of its
honey.
[edit] Study of honey bees
It was not until the 18th century that European natural philosophers undertook the scientific
study of bee colonies and began to understand the complex and hidden world of bee biology.
Preeminent among these scientific pioneers were Swammerdam, René Antoine Ferchault de
Réaumur, Charles Bonnet, and the blind Swiss scientist Francois Huber. Swammerdam and
Réaumur were among the first to use a microscope and dissection to understand the internal
biology of honey bees. Réaumur was among the first to construct a glass walled observation hive
to better observe activities within hives. He observed queens laying eggs in open cells, but still
had no idea of how a queen was fertilized; nobody had ever witnessed the mating of a queen and
drone and many theories held that queens were "self-fertile," while others believed that a vapor
or "miasma" emanating from the drones fertilized queens without direct physical contact. Huber
was the first to prove by observation and experiment that queens are physically inseminated by
drones outside the confines of hives, usually a great distance away.
Following Réaumur's design, Huber built improved glass-walled observation hives and sectional
hives which could be opened, like the leaves of a book, to inspect individual wax combs; this
greatly improved the direct observation of activity within a hive. Although he became blind
before he was twenty, Huber employed a secretary, Francois Burnens, to make daily
observations, conduct careful experiments, and to keep accurate notes over a period of more than
twenty years. Huber confirmed that a hive consists of one queen who is the mother of all the
female workers and male drones in the colony. He was also the first to confirm that mating with
drones takes place outside of hives and that queens are inseminated by a number of successive
matings with male drones, high in the air at a great distance from their hive. Together, he and
Burnens dissected bees under the microscope and were among the first to describe the ovaries
and spermatheca, or sperm store, of queens as well as the penis of male drones. Huber is
universally regarded as "the father of modern bee-science" and his "Nouvelles Observations sur
Les Abeilles (or "New Observations on Bees") [2]) revealed all the basic scientific truths for the
biology and ecology of honeybees.
[edit] Invention of the movable comb hive
Early forms of honey collecting entailed the destruction of the entire colony when the honey was
harvested. The wild hive was crudely broken into, using smoke to suppress the bees, the
honeycombs were torn out and smashed up — along with the eggs, larvae and honey they
contained. The liquid honey from the destroyed brood nest was crudely strained through a sieve
or basket. This was destructive and unhygienic, but for hunter-gatherer societies this did not
matter, since the honey was generally consumed immediately and there were always more wild
colonies to exploit. But in settled societies the destruction of the bee colony meant the loss of a
valuable resource; this drawback made beekeeping both inefficient and something of a "stop and
start" activity. There could be no continuity of production and no possibility of selective
breeding, since each bee colony was destroyed at harvest time, along with its precious queen.
During the medieval period abbeys and monasteries were centers of beekeeping, since beeswax
was highly prized for candles and fermented honey was used to make alcoholic mead in areas of
Europe where vines would not grow.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw successive stages of a revolution in beekeeping, which allowed
the bees themselves to be preserved when taking the harvest.
Intermediate stages in the transition from the old beekeeping to the new were recorded for
example by Thomas Wildman in 1768/1770, who described advances over the destructive old
skep-based beekeeping so that the bees no longer had to be killed to harvest the honey.[12]
Wildman for example fixed a parallel array of wooden bars across the top of a straw hive or skep
(with a separate straw top to be fixed on later) "so that there are in all seven bars of deal" [in a
10-inch-diameter (250 mm) hive] "to which the bees fix their combs".[13] He also described using
such hives in a multi-storey configuration, foreshadowing the modern use of supers: he described
adding (at a proper time) successive straw hives below, and eventually removing the ones above
when free of brood and filled with honey, so that the bees could be separately preserved at the
harvest for a following season. Wildman also described[14] a further development, using hives
with "sliding frames" for the bees to build their comb, foreshadowing more modern uses of
movable-comb hives. Wildman's book acknowledged the advances in knowledge of bees
previously made by Swammerdam, Maraldi, and de Reaumur—he included a lengthy translation
of Reaumur's account of the natural history of bees—and he also described the initiatives of
others in designing hives for the preservation of bee-life when taking the harvest, citing in
particular reports from Brittany dating from the 1750s, due to Comte de la Bourdonnaye.

Lorenzo Langstroth (1810-1895)

The 19th Century saw this revolution in beekeeping practice completed through the perfection of
the movable comb hive by Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, a descendant of Yorkshire farmers who
emigrated to the United States. Langstroth was the first person to make practical use of Huber's
earlier discovery that there was a specific spatial measurement between the wax combs, later
called "the bee space", which bees would not block with wax, but kept as a free passage. Having
determined this "bee space" (between 5 and 8 mm, or 1/4 to 3/8"), Langstroth then designed a
series of wooden frames within a rectangular hive box, carefully maintaining the correct space
between successive frames, and found that the bees would build parallel honeycombs in the box
without bonding them to each other or to the hive walls. This enables the beekeeper to slide any
frame out of the hive for inspection, without harming the bees or the comb, protecting the eggs,
larvae and pupae contained within the cells. It also meant that combs containing honey could be
gently removed and the honey extracted without destroying the comb. The emptied honey combs
could then be returned to the bees intact for refilling. Langstroth's classic book, The Hive and
Honey-bee, published in 1853, described his rediscovery of the bee space and the development of
his patent movable comb hive.
The invention and development of the movable-comb-hive fostered the growth of commercial
honey production on a large scale in both Europe and the USA.
•
A beekeeper removing frames from the hive

•
A frame

•
Smoking the hive

•
Using a blower to remove bees from honey super prior to removal to honey house

•
Opening the cells: Uncapping
 •
An uncapping fork

•
Uncapping the cells by hand using an uncapping knife

•
Extracting the honey

•
Filtering the honey
•

Earthquake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Earthquake (disambiguation).

Global earthquake epicenters, 1963–1998

Global plate tectonic movement

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of
energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity or seismic activity of an
area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.
Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the
most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire
globe. The more numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5 reported by national
seismological observatories are measured mostly on the local magnitude scale, also referred to as
the Richter scale. These two scales are numerically similar over their range of validity.
Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly almost imperceptible and magnitude 7 and over
potentially cause serious damage over large areas, depending on their depth. The largest
earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitude slightly over 9, although there is no limit to
the possible magnitude. The most recent large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 or larger was a 9.0
magnitude earthquake in Japan in 2011 (as of March 2011), and it was the largest Japanese
earthquake since records began. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale.
The shallower an earthquake, the more damage to structures it causes, all else being equal.[1]
At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacement
of the ground. When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be
displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger landslides, and
occasionally volcanic activity.
In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event—whether
natural or caused by humans—that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by
rupture of geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic activity, landslides, mine
blasts, and nuclear tests. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter.
The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Naturally occurring earthquakes
○ 1.1 Earthquake fault types
○ 1.2 Earthquakes away from plate boundaries
○ 1.3 Shallow-focus and deep-focus earthquakes
○ 1.4 Earthquakes and volcanic activity
○ 1.5 Rupture dynamics
○ 1.6 Earthquake clusters
 1.6.1 Aftershocks
 1.6.2 Earthquake swarms
 1.6.3 Earthquake storms
• 2 Size and frequency of occurrence
• 3 Induced seismicity
• 4 Measuring and locating earthquakes
• 5 Effects of earthquakes
○ 5.1 Shaking and ground rupture
○ 5.2 Landslides and avalanches
○ 5.3 Fires
○ 5.4 Soil liquefaction
○ 5.5 Tsunami
○ 5.6 Floods
○ 5.7 Tidal forces
○ 5.8 Human impacts
• 6 Major earthquakes
 • 7 Preparation
• 8 History
○ 8.1 Pre-Middle Ages
• 9 Earthquakes in culture
○ 9.1 Mythology and religion
○ 9.2 Popular culture
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 General references
• 13 External links
○ 13.1 Educational
○ 13.2 Seismological data centers
 13.2.1 Europe
 13.2.2 Japan
 13.2.3 New Zealand
 13.2.4 United States
○ 13.3 Seismic scales
○ 13.4 Scientific information
○ 13.5 Miscellaneous

Naturally occurring earthquakes

Fault types

Tectonic earthquakes occur anywhere in the earth where there is sufficient stored elastic strain
energy to drive fracture propagation along a fault plane. The sides of a fault move past each other
smoothly and aseismically only if there are no irregularities or asperities along the fault surface
that increase the frictional resistance. Most fault surfaces do have such asperities and this leads to
a form of stick-slip behaviour. Once the fault has locked, continued relative motion between the
plates leads to increasing stress and therefore, stored strain energy in the volume around the fault
surface. This continues until the stress has risen sufficiently to break through the asperity,
suddenly allowing sliding over the locked portion of the fault, releasing the stored energy. This
energy is released as a combination of radiated elastic strain seismic waves, frictional heating of
the fault surface, and cracking of the rock, thus causing an earthquake. This process of gradual
build-up of strain and stress punctuated by occasional sudden earthquake failure is referred to as
the elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total
energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the
earthquake fracture growth or is converted into heat generated by friction. Therefore,
earthquakes lower the Earth's available elastic potential energy and raise its temperature, though
these changes are negligible compared to the conductive and convective flow of heat out from
the Earth's deep interior.[2]
Earthquake fault types
Main article: Fault (geology)
There are three main types of fault that may cause an earthquake: normal, reverse (thrust) and
strike-slip. Normal and reverse faulting are examples of dip-slip, where the displacement along
the fault is in the direction of dip and movement on them involves a vertical component. Normal
faults occur mainly in areas where the crust is being extended such as a divergent boundary.
Reverse faults occur in areas where the crust is being shortened such as at a convergent
boundary. Strike-slip faults are steep structures where the two sides of the fault slip horizontally
past each other; transform boundaries are a particular type of strike-slip fault. Many earthquakes
are caused by movement on faults that have components of both dip-slip and strike-slip; this is
known as oblique slip.
Reverse faults, particularly those along convergent plate boundaries are associated with the most
powerful earthquakes, including almost all of those of magnitude 8 or more. Strike-slip faults,
particularly continental transforms can produce major earthquakes up to about magnitude 8.
Earthquakes associated with normal faults are generally less than magnitude 7.
This is so because the energy released in an earthquake, and thus its magnitude, is proportional to
the area of the fault that ruptures[3] and the stress drop. Therefore, the longer the length and the
wider the width of the faulted area, the larger the resulting magnitude. The topmost, brittle part
of the Earth’s crust, and the cool slabs of the tectonic plates that are descending down into the
hot mantel, are the only parts of our planet which can store elastic energy and release it in fault
ruptures. Rocks hotter than about 300 degrees Celsius flow in response to stress, they do not
rupture in earthquakes.[4][5] The maximum observed lengths of ruptures and mapped faults, which
may break in one go are approximately 1000 km. Examples are the earthquakes in Chile, 1960;
Alaska, 1957; Sumatra, 2004, all in subduction zones. The longest earthquake ruptures on strike-
slip faults, like the San Andreas Fault (1857, 1906), the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey (1939)
and the Denali Fault in Alaska (2002), are about half to one third as long as the lengths along
subducting plate margins, and those along normal faults are even shorter.
The most important parameter controlling the maximum earthquake magnitude on a fault is
however not the maximum available length, but the available width because the latter varies by a
factor of 20. Along converging plate margins, the dip angle of the rupture plane is very shallow,
typically about 10 degrees [1]. Thus the width of the plane within the top brittle crust of the
Earth can become 50 to 100 km (Tohoku, 2011; Alaska, 1964), making the most powerful
earthquakes possible.
Strike-slip faults tend to be oriented near vertically, resulting in an approximate width of 10 km
within the brittle crust [2], thus earthquakes with magnitudes much larger than 8 are not possible.
Maximum magnitudes along many normal faults are even more limited because many of them
are located along spreading centers, as in Iceland, where the thickness of the brittle layer is only
about 6 km.[6][3]
In addition, there exists a hierarchy of stress level in the three fault types. Thrust faults are
generated by the highest, strike slip by intermediate, and normal faults by the lowest stress
levels.[7] This can easily be understood by considering the direction of the greatest principal
stress, the direction of the force that ‘pushes’ the rock mass during the faulting. In the case of
normal faults, the rock mass is pushed down in a vertical direction, thus the pushing force
(greatest principal stress) equals the weight of the rock mass itself. In the case of thrusting, the
rock mass ‘escapes’ in the direction of the least principal stress, namely upward, lifting the rock
mass up, thus the overburden equals the least principal stress. Strike-slip faulting is intermediate
between the other two types described above. This difference in stress regime in the three
faulting environments can contribute to differences in stress drop during faulting, which
contributes to differences in the radiated energy, regardless of fault dimensions.
Earthquakes away from plate boundaries
Main article: Intraplate earthquake

Where plate boundaries occur within continental lithosphere, deformation is spread out over a
much larger area than the plate boundary itself. In the case of the San Andreas fault continental
transform, many earthquakes occur away from the plate boundary and are related to strains
developed within the broader zone of deformation caused by major irregularities in the fault trace
(e.g., the “Big bend” region). The Northridge earthquake was associated with movement on a
blind thrust within such a zone. Another example is the strongly oblique convergent plate
boundary between the Arabian and Eurasian plates where it runs through the northwestern part of
the Zagros mountains. The deformation associated with this plate boundary is partitioned into
nearly pure thrust sense movements perpendicular to the boundary over a wide zone to the
southwest and nearly pure strike-slip motion along the Main Recent Fault close to the actual
plate boundary itself. This is demonstrated by earthquake focal mechanisms.[8]
All tectonic plates have internal stress fields caused by their interactions with neighbouring
plates and sedimentary loading or unloading (e.g. deglaciation[9]). These stresses may be
sufficient to cause failure along existing fault planes, giving rise to intraplate earthquakes.[10]
Shallow-focus and deep-focus earthquakes
Main article: Depth of focus (tectonics)

The majority of tectonic earthquakes originate at the ring of fire in depths not exceeding tens of
kilometers. Earthquakes occurring at a depth of less than 70 km are classified as 'shallow-focus'
earthquakes, while those with a focal-depth between 70 and 300 km are commonly termed 'mid-
focus' or 'intermediate-depth' earthquakes. In subduction zones, where older and colder oceanic
crust descends beneath another tectonic plate, deep-focus earthquakes may occur at much greater
depths (ranging from 300 up to 700 kilometers).[11] These seismically active areas of subduction
are known as Wadati-Benioff zones. Deep-focus earthquakes occur at a depth where the
subducted lithosphere should no longer be brittle, due to the high temperature and pressure. A
possible mechanism for the generation of deep-focus earthquakes is faulting caused by olivine
undergoing a phase transition into a spinel structure.[12]
Earthquakes and volcanic activity
Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the
movement of magma in volcanoes. Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic
eruptions, as during the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980.[13] Earthquake swarms can serve as
markers for the location of the flowing magma throughout the volcanoes. These swarms can be
recorded by seismometers and tiltmeters (a device that measures ground slope) and used as
sensors to predict imminent or upcoming eruptions.[14]
Rupture dynamics
A tectonic earthquake begins by an initial rupture at a point on the fault surface, a process known
as nucleation. The scale of the nucleation zone is uncertain, with some evidence, such as the
rupture dimensions of the smallest earthquakes, suggesting that it is smaller than 100 m while
other evidence, such as a slow component revealed by low-frequency spectra of some
earthquakes, suggest that it is larger. The possibility that the nucleation involves some sort of
preparation process is supported by the observation that about 40% of earthquakes are preceded
by foreshocks. Once the rupture has initiated it begins to propagate along the fault surface. The
mechanics of this process are poorly understood, partly because it is difficult to recreate the high
sliding velocities in a laboratory. Also the effects of strong ground motion make it very difficult
to record information close to a nucleation zone.[15]
Rupture propagation is generally modelled using a fracture mechanics approach, likening the
rupture to a propagating mixed mode shear crack. The rupture velocity is a function of the
fracture energy in the volume around the crack tip, increasing with decreasing fracture energy.
The velocity of rupture propagation is orders of magnitude faster than the displacement velocity
across the fault. Earthquake ruptures typically propagate at velocities that are in the range 70–
90 % of the S-wave velocity and this is independent of earthquake size. A small subset of
earthquake ruptures appear to have propagated at speeds greater than the S-wave velocity. These
supershear earthquakes have all been observed during large strike-slip events. The unusually
wide zone of coseismic damage caused by the 2001 Kunlun earthquake has been attributed to the
effects of the sonic boom developed in such earthquakes. Some earthquake ruptures travel at
unusually low velocities and are referred to as slow earthquakes. A particularly dangerous form
of slow earthquake is the tsunami earthquake, observed where the relatively low felt intensities,
caused by the slow propagation speed of some great earthquakes, fail to alert the population of
the neighbouring coast, as in the 1896 Meiji-Sanriku earthquake.[15]
Earthquake clusters
Most earthquakes form part of a sequence, related to each other in terms of location and time.[16]
Most earthquake clusters consist of small tremors that cause little to no damage, but there is a
theory that earthquakes can recur in a regular pattern.[17]
Aftershocks
Main article: Aftershock

An aftershock is an earthquake that occurs after a previous earthquake, the mainshock. An

aftershock is in the same region of the main shock but always of a smaller magnitude. If an
aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the
original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock. Aftershocks are formed as the crust around
the displaced fault plane adjusts to the effects of the main shock.[16]
Earthquake swarms
Main article: Earthquake swarm

Earthquake swarms are sequences of earthquakes striking in a specific area within a short period
of time. They are different from earthquakes followed by a series of aftershocks by the fact that
no single earthquake in the sequence is obviously the main shock, therefore none have notable
higher magnitudes than the other. An example of an earthquake swarm is the 2004 activity at
Yellowstone National Park.[18]
Earthquake storms
Main article: Earthquake storm

Sometimes a series of earthquakes occur in a sort of earthquake storm, where the earthquakes
strike a fault in clusters, each triggered by the shaking or stress redistribution of the previous
earthquakes. Similar to aftershocks but on adjacent segments of fault, these storms occur over the
course of years, and with some of the later earthquakes as damaging as the early ones. Such a
pattern was observed in the sequence of about a dozen earthquakes that struck the North
Anatolian Fault in Turkey in the 20th century and has been inferred for older anomalous clusters
of large earthquakes in the Middle East.[19][20]
Size and frequency of occurrence
It is estimated that around 500,000 earthquakes occur each year, detectable with current
instrumentation. About 100,000 of these can be felt.[21][22] Minor earthquakes occur nearly
constantly around the world in places like California and Alaska in the U.S., as well as in
Guatemala. Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, the Azores in Portugal, Turkey, New Zealand,
Greece, Italy, and Japan, but earthquakes can occur almost anywhere, including New York City,
London, and Australia.[23] Larger earthquakes occur less frequently, the relationship being
exponential; for example, roughly ten times as many earthquakes larger than magnitude 4 occur
in a particular time period than earthquakes larger than magnitude 5. In the (low seismicity)
United Kingdom, for example, it has been calculated that the average recurrences are: an
earthquake of 3.7 - 4.6 every year, an earthquake of 4.7 - 5.5 every 10 years, and an earthquake
of 5.6 or larger every 100 years.[24] This is an example of the Gutenberg-Richter law.

The Messina earthquake and tsunami took as many as 200,000 lives on December
28, 1908 in Sicily and Calabria.[25]

The number of seismic stations has increased from about 350 in 1931 to many thousands today.
As a result, many more earthquakes are reported than in the past, but this is because of the vast
improvement in instrumentation, rather than an increase in the number of earthquakes. The
United States Geological Survey estimates that, since 1900, there have been an average of 18
major earthquakes (magnitude 7.0-7.9) and one great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or greater) per
year, and that this average has been relatively stable.[26] In recent years, the number of major
earthquakes per year has decreased, though this is probably a statistical fluctuation rather than a
systematic trend. More detailed statistics on the size and frequency of earthquakes is available
from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).[27] Alternatively, some scientists suggest that
the recent increase in major earthquakes could be explained by a cyclical pattern of periods of
intense tectonic activity, interspersed with longer periods of low-intensity. However, accurate
recordings of earthquakes only began in the early 1900s, so it is too early to categorically state
that this is the case.[28]
Most of the world's earthquakes (90%, and 81% of the largest) take place in the 40,000-km-long,
horseshoe-shaped zone called the circum-Pacific seismic belt, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire,
which for the most part bounds the Pacific Plate.[29][30] Massive earthquakes tend to occur along
other plate boundaries, too, such as along the Himalayan Mountains.[31]
With the rapid growth of mega-cities such as Mexico City, Tokyo and Tehran, in areas of high
seismic risk, some seismologists are warning that a single quake may claim the lives of up to
3 million people.[32]
Induced seismicity
Main article: Induced seismicity

While most earthquakes are caused by movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, human activity
can also produce earthquakes. Four main activities contribute to this phenomenon: storing large
amounts of water behind a dam (and possibly building an extremely heavy building), drilling and
injecting liquid into wells, and by coal mining and oil drilling.[33] Perhaps the best known
example is the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China's Sichuan Province in May; this tremor
resulted in 69,227 fatalities and is the 19th deadliest earthquake of all time. The Zipingpu Dam is
believed to have fluctuated the pressure of the fault 1,650 feet (503 m) away; this pressure
probably increased the power of the earthquake and accelerated the rate of movement for the
fault.[34] The greatest earthquake in Australia's history is also claimed to be induced by humanity,
through coal mining. The city of Newcastle was built over a large sector of coal mining areas.
The earthquake has been reported to be spawned from a fault that reactivated due to the millions
of tonnes of rock removed in the mining process.[35]
Measuring and locating earthquakes
Main article: Seismology

Earthquakes can be recorded by seismometers up to great distances, because seismic waves

travel through the whole Earth's interior. The absolute magnitude of a quake is conventionally
reported by numbers on the Moment magnitude scale (formerly Richter scale, magnitude 7
causing serious damage over large areas), whereas the felt magnitude is reported using the
modified Mercalli intensity scale (intensity II-XII).
Every tremor produces different types of seismic waves, which travel through rock with different
velocities:
• Longitudinal P-waves (shock- or pressure waves)
• Transverse S-waves (both body waves)
• Surface waves—(Rayleigh and Love waves)
Propagation velocity of the seismic waves ranges from approx. 3 km/s up to 13 km/s, depending
on the density and elasticity of the medium. In the Earth's interior the shock- or P waves travel
much faster than the S waves (approx. relation 1.7 : 1). The differences in travel time from the
epicentre to the observatory are a measure of the distance and can be used to image both sources
of quakes and structures within the Earth. Also the depth of the hypocenter can be computed
roughly.
In solid rock P-waves travel at about 6 to 7 km per second; the velocity increases within the deep
mantle to ~13 km/s. The velocity of S-waves ranges from 2–3 km/s in light sediments and 4–
5 km/s in the Earth's crust up to 7 km/s in the deep mantle. As a consequence, the first waves of a
distant earth quake arrive at an observatory via the Earth's mantle.
Rule of thumb: On the average, the kilometer distance to the earthquake is the number of
seconds between the P and S wave times 8.[36] Slight deviations are caused by inhomogeneities
of subsurface structure. By such analyses of seismograms the Earth's core was located in 1913 by
Beno Gutenberg.
Earthquakes are not only categorized by their magnitude but also by the place where they occur.
The world is divided into 754 Flinn-Engdahl regions (F-E regions), which are based on political
and geographical boundaries as well as seismic activity. More active zones are divided into
smaller F-E regions whereas less active zones belong to larger F-E regions.
Effects of earthquakes

1755 copper engraving depicting Lisbon in ruins and in flames after the 1755 Lisbon
earthquake, which killed an estimated 60,000 people. A tsunami overwhelms the
ships in the harbor.

The effects of earthquakes include, but are not limited to, the following:
Shaking and ground rupture
Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in
more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures. The severity of the local
effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the distance from the
epicenter, and the local geological and geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or
reduce wave propagation.[37] The ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration.
Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce high levels of
shaking on the ground surface even from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or
local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion from hard deep soils
to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy focalization owing to typical geometrical
setting of the deposits.
Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of
the fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground
rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power
stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any likely to break the ground
surface within the life of the structure.[38]
Landslides and avalanches
Main article: Landslide

Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, coastal wave attack, and wildfires, can
produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard. Landslide danger may
persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.[39]
Fires

Fires of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water
mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire
once it has started. For example, more deaths in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake were caused
by fire than by the earthquake itself.[40]
Soil liquefaction
Main article: Soil liquefaction

Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material (such as
sand) temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction may
cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits. This
can be a devastating effect of earthquakes. For example, in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, soil
liquefaction caused many buildings to sink into the ground, eventually collapsing upon
themselves.[41]
Tsunami
Main article: Tsunami
The tsunami of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or abrupt
movement of large volumes of water. In the open ocean the distance between wave crests can
surpass 100 kilometers (62 miles), and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one hour.
Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour (373–497 miles per hour), depending on water
depth. Large waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby
coastal areas in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across
open ocean and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.
[42]

Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale do not cause
tsunamis, although some instances of this have been recorded. Most destructive tsunamis are
caused by earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.[42]
Floods
Main article: Flood

A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches land.[43] Floods occur usually when
the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the total capacity of
the formation, and as a result some of the water flows or sits outside of the normal perimeter of
the body. However, floods may be secondary effects of earthquakes, if dams are damaged.
Earthquakes may cause landslips to dam rivers, which collapse and cause floods.[44]
The terrain below the Sarez Lake in Tajikistan is in danger of catastrophic flood if the landslide
dam formed by the earthquake, known as the Usoi Dam, were to fail during a future earthquake.
Impact projections suggest the flood could affect roughly 5 million people.[45]
Tidal forces
Research work has shown a robust correlation between small tidally induced forces and non-
volcanic tremor activity.[46][47][48][49]
Human impacts
Damaged infrastructure, one week after the 2007 Peru earthquake

An earthquake may cause injury and loss of life, road and bridge damage, general property
damage, and collapse or destabilization (potentially leading to future collapse) of buildings. The
aftermath may bring disease, lack of basic necessities, higher insurance premiums, Earthquakes
can also cause volcanic eruptions, bringing further problems.
Major earthquakes
Main article: List of earthquakes

One of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history occurred on 23 January 1556 in the
Shaanxi province, China, killing more than 830,000 people (see 1556 Shaanxi earthquake).[50]
Most of the population in the area at the time lived in yaodongs, artificial caves in loess cliffs,
many of which collapsed during the catastrophe with great loss of life. The 1976 Tangshan
earthquake, with death toll estimated to be between 240,000 to 655,000, is believed to be the
largest earthquake of the 20th century by death toll.[51]
The largest earthquake that has been measured on a seismograph reached 9.5 magnitude,
occurring on 22 May 1960.[21][22] Its epicenter was near Cañete, Chile. The energy released was
approximately twice that of the next most powerful earthquake, the Good Friday Earthquake,
which was centered in Prince William Sound, Alaska.[52][53] The ten largest recorded earthquakes
have all been megathrust earthquakes; however, of these ten, only the 2004 Indian Ocean
earthquake is simultaneously one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.
Earthquakes that caused the greatest loss of life, while powerful, were deadly because of their
proximity to either heavily populated areas or the ocean, where earthquakes often create
tsunamis that can devastate communities thousands of kilometers away. Regions most at risk for
great loss of life include those where earthquakes are relatively rare but powerful, and poor
regions with lax, unenforced, or nonexistent seismic building codes.
Preparation
To predict the likelihood of future seismic activity, geologists and other scientists examine the
rock of an area to determine if the rock appears "strained." Studying the faults of an area to study
the buildup time it takes for the fault to build up stress sufficient for an earthquake also serves as
an effective prediction technique.[54] Measurements of the amount of accumulated strain energy
on the fault each year, time passed since the last major temblor, and the energy and power of the
last earthquake are made.[54] Together the facts allow scientists to determine how much pressure
it takes for the fault to generate an earthquake. Though this method is useful, it has only been
implemented on California's San Andreas Fault.[54]
Today, there are ways to protect and prepare possible sites of earthquakes from severe damage,
through the following processes: earthquake engineering, earthquake preparedness, household
seismic safety, seismic retrofit (including special fasteners, materials, and techniques), seismic
hazard, mitigation of seismic motion, and earthquake prediction. Seismic retrofitting is the
modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground
motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. With better understanding of seismic demand on
structures and with our recent experiences with large earthquakes near urban centers, the need of
seismic retrofitting is well acknowledged. Prior to the introduction of modern seismic codes in
the late 1960s for developed countries (US, Japan etc.) and late 1970s for many other parts of the
world (Turkey, China etc.),[55] many structures were designed without adequate detailing and
reinforcement for seismic protection. In view of the imminent problem, various research work
has been carried out. Furthermore, state-of-the-art technical guidelines for seismic assessment,
retrofit and rehabilitation have been published around the world - such as the ASCE-SEI 41[56]
and the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (NZSEE)'s guidelines.[57]
Studies about earthquake precursors are important to try predict strong earthquakes.
History

An image from a 1557 book

Pre-Middle Ages
From the lifetime of the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras in the 5th century BCE to the 14th
century CE, earthquakes were usually attributed to "air (vapors) in the cavities of the Earth."[58]
Thales of Miletus, who lived from 625-547 (BCE) was the only documented person who
believed that earthquakes were caused by tension between the earth and water.[58] Other theories
existed, including the Greek philosopher Anaxamines' (585-526 BCE) beliefs that short incline
episodes of dryness and wetness caused seismic activity. The Greek philosopher Democritus
(460-371BCE) blamed water in general for earthquakes.[58] Pliny the Elder called earthquakes
"underground thunderstorms."[58]
Earthquakes in culture
Mythology and religion
In Norse mythology, earthquakes were explained as the violent struggling of the god Loki. When
Loki, god of mischief and strife, murdered Baldr, god of beauty and light, he was punished by
being bound in a cave with a poisonous serpent placed above his head dripping venom. Loki's
wife Sigyn stood by him with a bowl to catch the poison, but whenever she had to empty the
bowl the poison dripped on Loki's face, forcing him to jerk his head away and thrash against his
bonds, which caused the earth to tremble.[59]
In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the cause and god of earthquakes. When he was in a bad
mood, he struck the ground with a trident, causing earthquakes and other calamities. He also
used earthquakes to punish and inflict fear upon people as revenge.[60]
In Japanese mythology, Namazu (鯰) is a giant catfish who causes earthquakes. Namazu lives in
the mud beneath the earth, and is guarded by the god Kashima who restrains the fish with a
stone. When Kashima lets his guard fall, Namazu thrashes about, causing violent earthquakes.
Popular culture
In modern popular culture, the portrayal of earthquakes is shaped by the memory of great cities
laid waste, such as Kobe in 1995 or San Francisco in 1906.[61] Fictional earthquakes tend to strike
suddenly and without warning.[61] For this reason, stories about earthquakes generally begin with
the disaster and focus on its immediate aftermath, as in Short Walk to Daylight (1972), The
Ragged Edge (1968) or Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1998).[61] A notable example is
Heinrich von Kleist's classic novella, The Earthquake in Chile, which describes the destruction
of Santiago in 1647. Haruki Murakami's short fiction collection after the quake depicts the
consequences of the Kobe earthquake of 1995.
The most popular single earthquake in fiction is the hypothetical "Big One" expected of
California's San Andreas Fault someday, as depicted in the novels Richter 10 (1996) and
Goodbye California (1977) among other works.[61] Jacob M. Appel's widely anthologized short
story, A Comparative Seismology, features a con artist who convinces an elderly woman that an
apocalyptic earthquake is imminent.[62] In Pleasure Boating in Lituya Bay, one of the stories in
Jim Shepard's Like You'd Understand, Anyway, the "Big One" leads to an even more devastating
tsunami.
In the film 2012 (2009), solar flares (geologically implausibly) affecting the Earth's core caused
massive destabilization of the Earth's crust layers. This created destruction planet-wide with
earthquakes and tsunamis, foreseen by the Mayan culture and myth surrounding the last year
noted in the Mesoamerican calendar - 2012.
Contemporary depictions of earthquakes in film are variable in the manner in which they reflect
human psychological reactions to the actual trauma that can be caused to directly afflicted
families and their loved ones.[63] Disaster mental health response research emphasizes the need to
be aware of the different roles of loss of family and key community members, loss of home and
familiar surroundings, loss of essential supplies and services to maintain survival.[64][65]
Particularly for children, the clear availability of caregiving adults who are able to protect,
nourish, and clothe them in the aftermath of the earthquake, and to help them make sense of what
has befallen them has been shown even more important to their emotional and physical health
than the simple giving of provisions.[66] As was observed after other disasters involving
destruction and loss of life and their media depictions, such as those of the 2001 World Trade
Center Attacks or Hurricane Katrina—and has been recently observed in the 2010 Haiti
Earthquake, it is also important not to pathologize the reactions to loss and displacement or
disruption of governmental administration and services, but rather to validate these reactions, to
support constructive problem-solving and reflection as to how one might improve the conditions
of those affected.[67]

Landslide
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the geological phenomenon. For Ruddslide (disambiguation),

see Landslide (disambiguation).

"Rockslide" redirects here. For the comic book character, see Rockslide (comics).

This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk
page for details. WikiProject Geology or the Geology Portal may be able to
help recruit an expert. (November 2007)
Computer simulation of a "slump" landslide in San Mateo County, California (USA) in
January 1997

A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground

movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur
in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary
driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original
slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that
make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before
being released.

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Causes
• 2 Types
○ 2.1 Debris flow
○ 2.2 Earth flow
○ 2.3 Debris avalanche
○ 2.4 Sturzstrom
○ 2.5 Shallow landslide
 ○ 2.6 Deep-seated landslide
• 3 Causing tsunamis
• 4 Related phenomena
• 5 Landslide prediction mapping
• 6 Prehistoric landslides
• 7 Prehistoric submarine landslides
• 8 Historical landslides
• 9 Extraterrestrial landslides
• 10 See also
• 11 References
• 12 External links

[edit] Causes
Main article: Causes of landslides

The Mameyes Landslide, in barrio Tibes, Ponce, Puerto Rico, which buried more than
100 homes, was caused by extensive accumulation of rains and, according to some
sources, lightning.

Landslides occur when the stability of a slope changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A
change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together or alone.
Natural causes of landslides include:
• groundwater (porewater) pressure acting to destabilize the slope
• Loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil
structure (e.g. after a wildfire)
• erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves
• weakening of a slope through saturation by snowmelt, glaciers melting, or
heavy rains
• earthquakes adding loads to barely stable slope
• earthquake-caused liquefaction destabilizing slopes
 • volcanic eruptions
landslides are aggravated by human activities, Human causes include:deforestation, cultivation
and construction, which destabilize the already fragile slopes
• vibrations from machinery or traffic
• blasting
• earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on
an existing slope
• in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds colluvium
to bedrock
• Construction, agricultural or forestry activities (logging) which change the
amount of water which infiltrates the soil.

The landslide at Surte in Sweden, 1950. It was a quick clay slide killing one person.

[edit] Types
The following text needs to be harmonized with text in Landslide
classification.

Main article: Landslide classification

[edit] Debris flow

Amboori debris flow, occurred on 9 November 2001 in Kerala, India. The event killed
39 people.[1]

Slope material that becomes saturated with water may develop into a debris flow or mud flow.
The resulting slurry of rock and mud may pick up trees, houses and cars, thus blocking bridges
and tributaries causing flooding along its path.
Debris flow is often mistaken for flash flood, but they are entirely different processes.
Muddy-debris flows in alpine areas cause severe damage to structures and infrastructure and
often claim human lives. Muddy-debris flows can start as a result of slope-related factors and
shallow landslides can dam stream beds, resulting in temporary water blockage. As the
impoundments fail, a "domino effect" may be created, with a remarkable growth in the volume
of the flowing mass, which takes up the debris in the stream channel. The solid-liquid mixture
can reach densities of up to 2 tons/m³ and velocities of up to 14 m/s (Chiarle and Luino, 1998;
Arattano, 2003). These processes normally cause the first severe road interruptions, due not only
to deposits accumulated on the road (from several cubic metres to hundreds of cubic metres), but
in some cases to the complete removal of bridges or roadways or railways crossing the stream
channel. Damage usually derives from a common underestimation of mud-debris flows: in the
alpine valleys, for example, bridges are frequently destroyed by the impact force of the flow
because their span is usually calculated only for a water discharge. For a small basin in the
Italian Alps (area = 1.76 km²) affected by a debris flow, Chiarle and Luino (1998)[citation needed]
estimated a peak discharge of 750 m3/s for a section located in the middle stretch of the main
channel. At the same cross section, the maximum foreseeable water discharge (by HEC-1), was
19 m³/s, a value about 40 times lower than that calculated for the debris flow that occurred.
[edit] Earth flow
A rock slide in Guerrero, Mexico

Earthflows are downslope, viscous flows of saturated, fine-grained materials, which move at any
speed from slow to fast. Typically, they can move at speeds from 0.17 to 20 km/h. Though these
are a lot like mudflows, overall they are slower moving and are covered with solid material
carried along by flow from within. They are different from fluid flows in that they are more
rapid. Clay, fine sand and silt, and fine-grained, pyroclastic material are all susceptible to
earthflows. The velocity of the earthflow is all dependent on how much water content is in the
flow itself: if there is more water content in the flow, the higher the velocity will be.
These flows usually begin when the pore pressures in a fine-grained mass increase until enough
of the weight of the material is supported by pore water to significantly decrease the internal
shearing strength of the material. This thereby creates a bulging lobe which advances with a
slow, rolling motion. As these lobes spread out, drainage of the mass increases and the margins
dry out, thereby lowering the overall velocity of the flow. This process causes the flow to
thicken. The bulbous variety of earthflows are not that spectacular, but they are much more
common than their rapid counterparts. They develop a sag at their heads and are usually derived
from the slumping at the source.
Earthflows occur much more during periods of high precipitation, which saturates the ground
and adds water to the slope content. Fissures develop during the movement of clay-like material
creates the intrusion of water into the earthflows. Water then increases the pore-water pressure
and reduces the shearing strength of the material.[2]
[edit] Debris avalanche
Goodell Creek Debris Avalanche, Washington

A debris avalanche is a type of slide characterized by the chaotic movement of rocks soil and
debris mixed with water or ice (or both). They are usually triggered by the saturation of thickly
vegetated slopes which results in an incoherent mixture of broken timber, smaller vegetation and
other debris.[2] Debris avalanches differ from debris slides because their movement is much more
rapid. This is usually a result of lower cohesion or higher water content and commonly steeper
slopes.
Movement
Debris slides generally start with big rocks that start at the top of the slide and begin to break
apart as they slide towards the bottom. This is much slower than a debris avalanche. Debris
avalanches are very fast and the entire mass seems to liquefy as it slides down the slope. This is
caused by a combination of saturated material, and steep slopes. As the debris moves down the
slope it generally follows stream channels leving a v-shaped scar as it moves down the hill. This
differs from the more U-shaped scar of a slump. Debris avalanches can also travel well past the
foot of the slope due to their tremendous speed.[3]

Blockade of Hunza river

[edit] Sturzstrom
A sturzstrom is a rare, poorly understood type of landslide, typically with a long run-out. Often
very large, these slides are unusually mobile, flowing very far over a low angle, flat, or even
slightly uphill terrain.
See also: Slump (geology)

[edit] Shallow landslide

Hotel Limone at the Garda Lake. Part of a hill of Devonian shale was removed to
make the road, forming a dip-slope. The upper block detached along a bedding
plane and is sliding down the hill, forming a jumbled pile of rock at the toe of the
slide.

Landslide in which the sliding surface is located within the soil mantle or weathered bedrock
(typically to a depth from few decimetres to some metres). They usually include debris slides,
debris flow, and failures of road cut-slopes. Landslides occurring as single large blocks of rock
moving slowly down slope are sometimes called block glides.
Shallow landslides can often happen in areas that have slopes with high permeable soils on top of
low permeable bottom soils. The low permeable, bottom soils trap the water in the shallower,
high permeable soils creating high water pressure in the top soils. As the top soils are filled with
water and become heavy, slopes can become very unstable and slide over the low permeable
bottom soils. Say there is a slope with silt and sand as its top soil and bedrock as its bottom soil.
During an intense rainstorm, the bedrock will keep the rain trapped in the top soils of silt and
sand. As the topsoil becomes saturated and heavy, it can start to slide over the bedrock and
become a shallow landslide. R. H. Campbell did a study on shallow landslides on Santa Cruz
Island California. He notes that if permeability decreases with depth, a perched water table may
develop in soils at intense precipitation. When pore water pressures are sufficient to reduce
effective normal stress to a critical level, failure occurs.[4]
[edit] Deep-seated landslide
Landslide of soil and regolith in Pakistan

Landslides in which the sliding surface is mostly deeply located below the maximum rooting
depth of trees (typically to depths greater than ten meters). Deep-seated landslides usually
involve deep regolith, weathered rock, and/or bedrock and include large slope failure associated
with translational, rotational, or complex movement. These typically move slowly, only several
meters per year, but occasionally move faster. They tend to be larger than shallow landslides and
form along a plane of weakness such as a fault or bedding plane. They can be visually identified
by concave scarps at the top and steep areas at the toe.[5]
[edit] Causing tsunamis
Landslides that occur undersea, or have impact into water, can generate tsunamis. Massive
landslides can also generate megatsunamis, which are usually hundreds of meters high. In 1958,
one such tsunami occurred in Lituya Bay in Alaska.
[edit] Related phenomena
• An avalanche, similar in mechanism to a landslide, involves a large amount of
ice, snow and rock falling quickly down the side of a mountain.
• A pyroclastic flow is caused by a collapsing cloud of hot ash, gas and rocks
from a volcanic explosion that moves rapidly down an erupting volcano.

[edit] Landslide prediction mapping

Global landslide risks

Ferguson Slide on California State Route 140 in June 2006

Landslide hazard analysis and mapping can provide useful information for catastrophic loss
reduction, and assist in the development of guidelines for sustainable land use planning. The
analysis is used to identify the factors that are related to landslides, estimate the relative
contribution of factors causing slope failures, establish a relation between the factors and
landslides, and to predict the landslide hazard in the future based on such a relationship.[6] The
factors that have been used for landslide hazard analysis can usually be grouped into
geomorphology, geology, land use/land cover, and hydrogeology. Since many factors are
considered for landslide hazard mapping, GIS is an appropriate tool because it has functions of
collection, storage, manipulation, display, and analysis of large amounts of spatially referenced
data which can be handled fast and effectively.[7] Remote sensing techniques are also highly
employed for landslide hazard assessment and analysis. Before and after aerial photographs and
satellite imagery are used to gather landslide characteristics, like distribution and classification,
and factors like slope, lithology, and land use/land cover to be used to help predict future events.
[8]
Before and after imagery also helps to reveal how the landscape changed after an event, what
may have triggered the landslide, and shows the process of regeneration and recovery.[9]
Using satellite imagery in combination with GIS and on-the-ground studies, it is possible to
generate maps of likely occurrences of future landslides.[10] Such maps should show the locations
of previous events as well as clearly indicate the probable locations of future events. In general,
to predict landslides, one must assume that their occurrence is determined by certain geologic
factors, and that future landslides will occur under the same conditions as past events.[11]
Therefore, it is necessary to establish a relationship between the geomorphologic conditions in
which the past events took place and the expected future conditions.[12]
Natural disasters are a dramatic example of people living in conflict with the environment. Early
predictions and warnings are essential for the reduction of property damage and loss of life.
Because landslides occur frequently and can represent some of the most destructive forces on
earth, it is imperative to have a good understanding as to what causes them and how people can
either help prevent them from occurring or simply avoid them when they do occur. Sustainable
land management and development is an essential key to reducing the negative impacts felt by
landslides.
GIS offers a superior method for landslide analysis because it allows one to capture, store,
manipulate, analyze, and display large amounts of data quickly and effectively. Because so many
variables are involved, it is important to be able to overlay the many layers of data to develop a
full and accurate portrayal of what is taking place on the Earth's surface. Researchers need to
know which variables are the most important factors that trigger landslides in any given location.
Using GIS, extremely detailed maps can be generated to show past events and likely future
events which have the potential to save lives, property, and money.
[edit] Prehistoric landslides

Rhine cutting through Flims Rockslide debris, Switzerland

• Landslide which moved Heart Mountain to its current location, the largest
ever discovered on land. In the 48 million years since the slide occurred,
erosion has removed most of the portion of the slide.
• Flims Rockslide, ca. 13,000 km3 (3,100 cu mi), Switzerland, some 10000
years ago in post-glacial Pleistocene/Holocene, the largest so far described in
the alps and on dry land that can be easily identified in a modestly eroded
state.[13]
• The landslide around 200BC which formed Lake Waikaremoana on the North
Island of New Zealand, where a large block of the Ngamoko Range slid and
dammed a gorge of Waikaretaheke River, forming a natural reservoir up to
248 metres deep.
• Cheekye Fan, British Columbia, Canada, ca. 25 km2 (9.7 sq mi), Late
Pleistocene in age.

[edit] Prehistoric submarine landslides

• The Storegga Slide, Norway, ca. 3,500 km3 (840 cu mi), ca. 8,000 years ago,
a catastrophic impact on the contemporary coastal Mesolithic population
• The Agulhas slide, ca. 20,000 km3 (4,800 cu mi), off South Africa, post-
Pliocene in age, the largest so far described[14]
• The Ruatoria Debris Avalanche, off North Island New Zealand, ca. 3,000 km³
in volume, 170,000 years ago.[15]

[edit] Historical landslides

Main article: List of landslides
 • The Goldau on September 2, 1806
• The Cap Diamant Québec rockslide on September 19, 1889
• Frank Slide, Turtle Mountain, Alberta, Canada, on 29 April 1903
• Khait landslide, Khait, Tajikistan, Soviet Union, on July 10, 1949
• Monte Toc landslide (260 millions cubic metres) falling into the Vajont Dam
basin in Italy, causing a megatsunami and about 2000 casualties, on October
9, 1963
• Hope Slide landslide (46 million cubic metres) near Hope, British Columbia on
January 9, 1965.[16]
• The 1966 Aberfan disaster
• Tuve landslide in Gothenburg, Sweden on November 30, 1977.
• The 1979 Abbotsford landslip, Dunedin, New Zealand on August 8, 1979.
• Val Pola landslide during Valtellina disaster (1987) Italy
• Thredbo landslide, Australia on 30 July 1997, destroyed hostel.
• Vargas mudslides, due to heavy rains in Vargas State, Venezuela, on
December, 1999, causing tens of thousands of casualties.
• 2007 Chittagong mudslide, in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on June 11, 2007.
• 2008 Cairo landslide on September 6, 2008.
• The 2010 Uganda landslide caused over 100 deaths following heavy rain in
Bududa region.
• Zhouqu county mudslide in Gansu, China on August 8, 2010.[17]
• Devil's Slide, an ongoing landslide in San Mateo County, California
• 2011 Rio de Janeiro landslide in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 11, 2011,
causing 610 casualties so far.[18]

[edit] Extraterrestrial landslides

Before and after radar images of a landslide on Venus. In the center of the image on
the right, the new landslide, a bright, flow-like area, can be seen extending to the
left of a bright fracture. 1990 image.

Landslide in progress on Mars, 2008-02-19

Evidence of past landslides has been detected on many bodies in the solar system, but since most
observations are made by probes that only observe for a limited time and most bodies in the solar
system appear to be geologically inactive not many landslides are known to have happened in
recent times. Both Venus and Mars have been subject to long-term mapping by orbiting
satellites, and examples of landslides have been observed on both.
[edit] See also

An infra-red view of a landslide in the Valley of the Geysers

• Automatic Deformation Monitoring System

• Deformation monitoring
• Earthquake engineering
• Geotechnics
• Geotechnical engineering
• Landslide dam
• Landslide mitigation
• Mass wasting
• Slope stability
• Sturzstrom
• Submarine landslide
• Washaway
• Mudslide
• California landslides