Landslides Falling

into Water Reservoirs

INTRODUCTION
Several disasters have been caused by landslides
and

rock

avalanches

falling

onto

natural

or

artificial water basins.

The most studied case occurred in northern Italy

on October 9th, 1963, when a volume of 270
Mcum. of limestone collapsed into the artificially
dammed Vaiont lake.

The

dam

survived

the

impact,

but

water

overtopped the dam by about 200 m and the

ensuing water wave took 2,000 lives.
Probably the disaster could have been avoided if
the danger of landslides falling at high speed in

INTRODUCTION (CONTD.)
The fall of a landslide into a water reservoir may
displace a large amount of water.
If the water reservoir is large (a vast lake, a fjord,
or the open sea) waves created can travel fast as a
tsunami and discharge their power in distant
locations.
However, also landslides falling in small water
reservoirs may cause local damage.
Several physical-dynamical problems arise during
the process of landslide impact with water.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
First kind. If the mass of displaced water is much
less than the landslide mass, the latter will be only
weakly affected by the water. Water is totally
displaced. Example: Val Pola and Vaiont.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (CONTD.)

Second kind. If the amount of water is comparable
to the landslide mass, the movement of the slide
and the water displacement are interconnected.
The landslide will be more delayed by water than
in the previous case.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION (CONTD.)

Third kind. If the mass of the landslide is much
less than that of water, the movement of the
landslide is strongly affected by water; water is
displaced locally but not permanently, and will
promptly return to the equilibrium
Dependinglevel.
on the speed of
the landslide and on the
local geometry of the basin,
it may generate a tsunami

CRITICAL PARAMETER
The ratio between the water mass in the reservoir
and the landslide mass is considered as a critical
parameter

for

assessing

the

behaviour

of

landslide falling onto a water reservoir. (Erismann

and Abele (2001))

LIMIT C <<1 (MASS OF THE

LANDSLIDE MUCH GREATER THAN
THE WATER MASS)

In this limit the landslide is little affected by the

comparatively small water mass. The water mass
will be totally displaced by the landslide and the
critical becomes the velocity acquired by the water
splash UW. According to Erismann and Abele
(2001) we can write

where U is the velocity of the landslide at the

moment of impact, and J is the equivalent of a
coefficient of restitution, introduced to account for

LIMIT C <<1 (MASS OF THE

LANDSLIDE MUCH GREATER THAN
THE WATER MASS) (CONTD.)

In the absence of any dissipation, the velocity

acquired by water would be twice the landslide
velocity.
The impact seen from an observer sitting on top of
the landslide. The Observer would perceive water
impacting against the landslide with a velocity U
and then bouncing back at the speed +U.
From an observer at rest this would correspond to
a velocity acquired equal to twice the initial
velocity of the landslide.
The Vaiont landslide, for which C 0.05, also

LIMIT C <<1 (MASS OF THE

LANDSLIDE MUCH GREATER THAN
THE WATER MASS) (CONTD.)

The Vaiont landslide, for which C 0.05, also

belongs to this case. From the below equation one
can estimate theoretical height H reached by
displaced water,

BRIEF CASE STUDY: MONTE TOC

(VAIONT): LANDSLIDE FALLEN
ONTO A WATER RESERVOIR
Name: Vaiont landslide (from the name of
the river)
Mount involved: Monte Toc
Location: Belluno (Northern Italy)
Coordinates: 46 15 28 N; 12 20 39 E
Volume: very Large (270 Mm3)
Year:1963
Kind: rock avalanche
Casualties: 1996
Cause: the presence of a water reservoir
greatly increased the flank instability in a
geological setting already susceptible to
failure
Landslide material: Jurassic and Cretaceous

BRIEF CASE STUDY: MONTE TOC

(VAIONT): LANDSLIDE FALLEN ONTO
A WATER RESERVOIR (CONTD.)
Special characteristics: the landslide falling into
the dammed water reservoir generated a huge
wave that overtopped the dam with a 200 m
water front.
It is one of the best studied landslides in the
world. The time history is a source of unique
information of creep anticipating the failure.
The

Vaiont

disaster

represents

catastrophe in the twentieth century.

major

BRIEF CASE STUDY: MONTE TOC

(VAIONT): LANDSLIDE FALLEN ONTO
A In
WATER
RESERVOIR
(CONTD.)
early October
1963, technicians
of the Vaiont
dam noticed that the southern flank of the mount
called Toc was sliding onto the artificial lake with a
speed of 4 cm/h.

Fearing

major

landslide,

they

had

been

measuring the creep of the mountain flank for

about 4 years.
According

to

widespread

views,

the

landslide

should have been slow, somehow controllable.

Still, a slow landslide would have had two major

negative

impacts.

It

would

have

created

dangerous lake fed by the waters of the Vaiont

BRIEF CASE STUDY: MONTE TOC

(VAIONT): LANDSLIDE FALLEN ONTO
A WATER RESERVOIR (CONTD.)
The level of the reservoir was raised during the
whole year 1960. In November a landslide of
700,000 m3 plunged into the artificial lake,
questioning the stability of the area.
The dominant idea was that the landslide would
have been slow, much like the flow of a glacier.
The concern was that the body of a large
landslide would have dammed the river.
To circumvent this risk, a by-pass tunnel was
built to drain the lake that would have resulted
from the damming.

BRIEF CASE STUDY: MONTE TOC

(VAIONT): LANDSLIDE FALLEN ONTO
A WATER RESERVOIR (CONTD.)
In

the

meantime,

demonstrated
fractured

and

that

series

the

that

zone

clay

of

was

beds

were

corings
intensely
present

between the Upper Jurassic limestone and the

Cretaceous, destined to become the weak layer
along which the landslide took place.
The observations gathered during the period of
tunnel

construction

are

interesting

in

demonstrating that the creep rate of the slid

diminished dramatically.

LIMIT C 1 (MASS OF THE

LANDSLIDE COMPARABLE TO THE
WATER MASS)

In this case the momentum carried by the water is

not negligible, and affects the dynamics of the
landslide.
An analysis identical to the inelastic impact of two
spheres leads to the following result

Velocities

are

previous case

thus

reduced

compared

to

the

C << 1, but still of the order of

the landslide velocity.

COASTAL LANDSLIDES AND

LANDSLIDES FALLING
ONTO LARGE WATER BASINS, C >> 1

Based on the dynamics of the phenomenon, there

may be different geometrical types.
Case II subaerially and
Landslides may originate mostly

plunge into the water.

The impact with water and the dynamics at the

airwater

interface

are

significant

in

the

subsequent movement of the slide and of the

water.
The

impact

with

water

may

also

produce

tsunami. We can recognize two subtypes.