On Thursday,
October 4, 2012, a hillside in Zhenhe collapsed, burying Tiantou Elementary
School and 18 students in a landslide. Sources refer to the event as a
landslide, but according to our notes, a landslide simply describes all rapid
forms of mass wasting. When examining the media, the event sounds and looks to
be categorized as a debris flow. Debris flows have high viscosities and contain
a lot of mud as well as rock debris, unlike mudflows that have less debris with
some rock content. Being that the hillside collapsed, gravity and a steep slope
clearly influenced the debris flow to occur.
Prior to the
debris flow, there was seismic activity as well as a large amount of rain flow.
On September 8th, a series of tremors
hit the region, killing dozens of individuals. Other earthquakes throughout September left the land prone
to mishaps, and in addition to the sizeable amount of rain, mass wasting occurred
and created a debris flow. The debris flow is estimated to have killed 19
people, 18 of which are children. The landslide also affected people in the
area by burying three houses and damming a nearby river. The river’s water pooled
around the buried area to approximately 45 feet across and 21 feet deep. The
pooled area hindered rescue efforts and forced some 800 people from their homes
in Yiliang County.
BBC video of the debris flow:
BBC NEWS. 5 October 2012. Retrieved
from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19839932
Examiner. 7 October 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.examiner.com/article/chinese-landslide-results-deaths-of-18-students
