Triggers of Mass Wasting i. Earthquakes and their aftershocks dislodge vast amounts of material and the slump and landslides cause damage. ii. Weight When heavy rains and snow saturate the sediment it becomes more unstable and heavier particularly if vegetation has been removed. iii. Undercutting of bottom slope by water or engineering.
Undesirable Weather Hazards A significant amount of the hiking accidents in Hong Kong is caused by undesirable weather conditions. Undesiravle weather can be generally classified into three categories and they are heavy rainfall, hot and dry weather, and foggy weather respectively. In the following, the details and the possible dangers, related to common accidents happened in hiking, will be discussed. Heavy Rainfall For heavy rainfall, flash flood, falling of rocks and landslide are the possible accidents. Having a heavy rainfall is quite common in Hong Kong, especially in summer, which typhoons usually pass by.
Houses with very thin and soft roofs are easily damaged because of blizzards. Houses, in the area where blizzards occur, will be covered with thick snow. Electric and communications lines are disrupted and damaged and this can also result in fire. Roads become fully covered with the water that melts from snow during blizzard and so the roads become very slippery.
Watersheds or flood are more common in spring, when snow and heavy rain falling. Afghanistan is located in high seismic zone because Afghanistan is a mountainous country and has a rural location. In the cities and some villages when an earthquake, landslide, mudslide, avalanches or flood occur, is always deadly and destructive. According to estimates since 2002 the natural disasters
Fractures A fracture can be described as the effect that occurs in a material or an object causing its separation into two or many different pieces and mainly as a result of the action or effect of stress. Stress can be defined as the strain or pressure applied on a material or the tension exerted on an object. Fractures in objects may lead to failure in the use of the materials. This may result into big losses and times and many other tragedies may follow considering the use of the fractured material. Fractures majorly occur following developing displacement of surfaces in the material or object.
The population who are mostly going to be affected are those who are living near the edge of a hill or mountain where there is excess rainfall, near running rivers and near main roads. The effects of landslide to the population and infrastructures may be minimized by risk management. Landslide remains high risk in Bulolo area as a result of geologically juvenile formations, high altitude combined with high weathering profile and constantly changing geomorphology caused by erosion from high rainfall events. Increase in population and infrastructure built in the way of this natural process of land formation creates a hazard and risk over time for commuters using road access and settlement. It is therefore crucial for a study such as this to be conducted to assess the impacts of landslide and awareness given to the public about landslides that are likely to occur at certain areas in and around
The last ice age ended because of many factors, three of which are the main cause. The size of the ice was very large which caused the ice to become unstable. This meant that the ice would be prone to cracking. There was also a change in the orbit. The sun was becoming more and more intense in the northern hemisphere, pressuring the ice to crack off and melt.
Water and wind erosion account for much of the erosion in the world. Running rivers and strong winds slowly wear away rock after a long period of time. Moreover, soil erosion can be accelerated by humans in a variety of ways. Such as, incorrect agriculture methods, hikers misusing trails, urbanization and deforestation.When farmers use improper agriculture methods erosion causes much
Water availability variability and water related disasters will increase manifold as IPCC predicted and water availability will be impacted by variability in climate. In the short run glaciers will melt with more speed, which can lead to floods. In addition to that erratic rain falls can also increase the incidence of floods in the near future. The flood in 2010 in Pakistan can be quoted as a major example of floods caused by erratic rainfalls. The Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)can also create severe problems, as Atta Abad lake is another prominent example.
Hill site development comes with risk of landslide if no proper design and lack of understanding and appreciation of the subsoil conditions and geotechnical issues. The factors that triggers landslide are the slope instability, excessive rainfall and human activities. Cases of landslide incidents due to development at hill terrains have increased in Malaysia since the 1900s. Those incidents could have been avoided if extra care was taken. Legislative Guidelines are produced by the Minerals and GeoScience Department Malaysia (JMG) for hill site development.