A super-large landslide in Tibet in 2000: background, occurrence, disaster, and origin

On April 9, 2000, a super-large landslide (3×108 m3) occurred along Zhamu Creek, southeast Tibet. As a result, a landslide dam formed and the Yigong River was blocked. A channelized diversion was constructed for prevention of overtopping. Two months later on June 10, a catastrophic flood resulting from the failure of the landslide dam caused a serious loss of property. This is the second of landslide occasion dam formation and flooding occurrence at the same site since 1900.In this paper we introduce the background and occurrence of the landslide, report the dam failure and overflow process, and finally discuss the origin of the landslide and of the flood in comparison with statistical characteristics of previous case histories worldwide. Many large and small landslides will continue to occur because of the distinctive physiographic, geological and climatic conditions in this region. What we can do is perhaps only to predict and avoid them. With predicted global warming, water availability has become more and more important for landslide occurrence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]