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The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides.
On 22 July 2024, two landslides occurred in the Gofa Zone of Ethiopia. I blogged about these events at the time, but the true picture was somewhat unclear due to the remote location.
Impressively, a group of academics from Arba Minch University in Ethiopia have produced a paper (Shano et al. 2024), just published in the journal Quaternary Science Advances, which provides an initial review of these events.
The authors describe a sad series of events. Overnight, heavy rainfall fell in the area, At 8:30 am a 50 m long landslide occurred at Kencho Shacha Gozdi village, burying three houses and killing six people.
The second landslide occurred at 10:40 am, striking people meeting to discuss the rescue of the victims of the first failure. Shano et al. (2024) indicate that thes econd landslide occurred about 120 metres to the west of the first event. This failure was 48 metres long, with a depth of 8 metres. The failure surface was located in highly fractured basalt. The authors describe a translational movement mechanism.
At least 245 people were killed by the second landslide.
I have been unable to definitively identify the location of these landslides – Shano et al. (2024) provide some location data, but it is difficult to interpret. However, there is a cluster of new landslides in the vicinity of [6.4822, 37.3115], as shown in the Planet Labs image below, which might be related to this event:-
The landslides on 22 July 2024 in Gofa Zone highlight the risks to rescuers in the aftermath of landslides. In landslide-prone areas, rescues are often attempted by members of the local community, placing individuals at great peril. Managing this situation is extremely challenging.
References
Shano et al. 2024. Fatal Landslides in Kencho, Shacha & Gozdi Villages, Gofa Zone, Ethiopia: A Detailed Investigation (Geological, Geotechnical, Geophysical & Geospatial) of the July 22, 2024 Catastrophe and Its Socioeconomic Repercussions. Quaternary Science Advances, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2024.100241.
Planet Team 2024. Planet Application Program Interface: In Space for Life on Earth. San Francisco, CA. https://www.planet.com/
Text © 2023. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.
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