The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides.
There are two very interesting urban landslides making headlines at the moment. One is the Rancho Palos Verdes landslide in California – there is a well-informed description of this ongoing crisis on the CNN website. I will try to write about this one in the coming days.
The other is the Pissouri landslide in Cyprus. This is a well documented failure that is slowly destroying a large part of the town. The crown of the landslide is located at [34.667, 32.699]. I have marked this location and have annotated a part of the rear scarp on the Google Earth image below:-
In the image the toe of the landslide is towards the foot of the image. There is a good gallery of images of the damage that this landslide is causing on the in-Cyprus website. The residents of the community of Limnes also have a Facebook site with a range of images.
This landslide has been the subject of ongoing investigations, and there are at least two scientific papers (Hearn et al. 2018, Hearn et al. 2020) that describe it. The site is an ancient landslide, with reactivation first being observed in 2012. Movement has accelerated in recent years, with substantial damage now being inflicted on properties in the affected area.
An investigation of the site has been undertaken, and some remediation of the site has also started. However, the most recent studies have indicated that the shear surface is much deeper than had been expected – 40 metres below the surface, rather than the anticipated 7 metres – which is likely to pose substantial challenges in terms of stabilising the slope. In consequence, relocation of the residents may prove to be the only option.
As the Google Earth image above shows, that there is a landslide present at this site should not have been a surprise when the construction of the community of Limnes, on the main landslide mass, was initiated. As usual, it is the residents of the properties that are paying a very heavy price for this error.
References
Hearn, G.J, et al. 2018. Proving a landslide: ground behaviour problems at Pissouri, Cyprus. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 51 , 461-482. https://doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2017-134.
Hearn, G.J, et al. 2020. Acceleration of the Pissouri landslide, Cyprus. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 53, 530-541.
