Italy Mass Wasting

As I expected, Italy is certainly no stranger to mass wasting.  Given their location in relation to two major tectonic plates, the formation of mountains and hills are prevalent in Italy, specifically in the Campania region.  If you have been anywhere in Italy, you know there are a lot of hills because your legs are definitely sore the entire time.  As you can see in the map below, mass wasting is extremely prevalent in all the mountain regions from the Italian Alps to the North, running all the way down the center of Italy, to the Campania region in the South.  The major triggers for mass wasting are caused by earthquakes, but are primarily caused by rain and flooding.  Mass wasting is especially dangerous in Italy due to the dense population in mountain regions.  Since 1950, at least 4.105 people have died in 661 landslides.  The Italian government spends approximately .9 billion Euros per year managing damage caused by landslides.  The most dangerous rockslide to occur in Italy happened in 1963.  It was 1.2 miles wide and 1 mile deep.  An estimated 350 million cubic yards of material moved.   People all the way in Brussels (almost 650 miles away) were able to feel the vibrations. WOW!

                                   


Map of landslide locations - https://www.progettoiffi.isprambiente.it/en/


https://www.climatechangepost.com/italy/avalanches-and-landslides/


Landslide cost - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10346-017-0829-4


Vajont dam - 

https://damfailures.org/case-study/vajont-dam-italy-1963/#:~:text=On%20the%20night%20of%20October,was%20around%20109%2C000%20acre%2Dfeet.


 

Comments

  1. MoiraOctober 15, 2023 at 3:42 PM

    Hi Justin,
    It was very interesting to read your reaction to mass wasting in Italy. The country I am researching (Denmark) also experiences mass wasting, but you were able to predict the hazard based on your country's history with earthquakes. My friend used to live in Italy, and I've heard about the hills as well. Reading about the last rockslide sounds terrifying!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ana GGOctober 16, 2023 at 11:01 AM

    What specifically does the government to mitigate the hazard (with all that money)?

    ReplyDelete

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