A massive landslide covered California’s famous Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in 35 to 45 feet of soil and rock over a distance of 1,500 feet. Caltrans is calling the landslide ‘one of a kind’ and one of the biggest in the State’s recorded history, and ‘…by far the worst we have ever seen‘. Wired Magazine has a great before and after picture to view the magnitude of this massive landslide. The slide is also being called the Mud Creek slide. It cuts off the southern route into the popular tourist destination called Big Sur. The latest information is that the highway could be closed for months, possibly even more than 1 year. [Source: More info at SFist via AEG Insider. Image: John Madonna, Associated Press via SF Chronicle]
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Video: Rockslide on U.S. Highway 64 in Tennessee
Amazing video of a rockslide as it happened yesterday along U.S. Highway 64 in the Ocoee River gorge in Tennessee. TDOT crews had almost finished removing rockslide debris from an event earlier in the day when a second slide occurred, blocking the road again. That looks like a pretty planar joint set dipping right into the roadway and everything was wet from the recent rains. Click through for the video.
Landslide Brings Down Bridge in Italy’s A6 Motorway
Sichuan Earthquake Update
[Updated May 30, 2008] I forgot to publish this post to the front page, whoops! The two links still have excellent information. In particular, Dave’s Landslide Blog has coverage of the many landslide lakes and the efforts to breach some of them. [/Update]
The latest numbers according to AFP, Worldwide News Agency, is 71,000 dead, missing or buried and over 5 million homeless. There were many victims that were buried by landslides and rockfall. In the past few days 200 rescue workers have been buried by mudslides.
For more coverage on landslides related to the earthquake, I recommend Dave’s Landslide Blog. Geology.com also has very comprehensive coverage as well. (AFP Photo)