What is a collapse: causes of formation and security measures

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

People living in mountainous areas know perfectly well what a collapse is. There, this phenomenon is common, nevertheless quite formidable, capable of causing terrible destruction and human casu alties.

How crashes form

This natural phenomenon is the rapid separation and movement of rocks under the influence of gravity along the slopes with overturning, crushing, as a result of which the bottom of the valley is covered with debris.

Sometimes large blocks collapse, splitting in the process of falling into many small fragments, turning into a rockfall. The magnitude of collapses can have different limits - from the collapse of small pieces of rocks to huge masses of several million cubic meters.

Causes of collapses are most often caused by the weakening of rocks, violation of their integrity, the formation of cracks, which is the result of weathering, washing out of soil by groundwater and surface water. This process is also influenced by the geological structure of the area, tremors and, to a large extent, human activity, when the rules of construction and mining are violated.

Classification

Crashes are characterized by powerprocess (the volume of falling rock masses) and by the scale of manifestation determined by the area. In this regard, they are divided into very small, the volume of which is not more than 5 m³, small (from 5 to 50 m³), medium (from 50 to 1000 m³) and large (more than 1000 m³). An example of what a collapse of a gigantic scale is, was shown by the collapse of rocks in the Pamir mountains in 1911, the volume of which amounted to about 2 billion m^3.

Depending on the scale of manifestation, there are huge (more than 100 ha), medium (from 50 to 100 ha), small (from 5 to 50 ha) and small (up to 5 ha) landslides.

Consequences of collapses

The greatest danger is represented by heavy rocks, which, collapsing and falling from the slopes, can crush or fall asleep even the most durable structures. They fill up the surrounding space, sometimes hiding under them entire settlements, agricultural areas and forests. Sometimes such collapses, mudflows destroy the banks of the rivers, which threatens with floods, bringing no less significant damage to nature and the national economy. Such catastrophic events not only harm the economy, lead to loss of life, but often cause a change in the landscape.

Snowfall

These crashes also have to be reckoned with. They occur in high mountainous regions, where the accumulated snow sometimes rolls down in the form of an avalanche. Most often this occurs on treeless slopes, the slope of which is at least 140 degrees. At the same time, a huge snow mass moves at a speed of 30 to 100 m/s, destroyingbuildings on their way, filling roads and mountain paths. Tourists, villagers and other people caught in its path may be covered with snow.

The impact from such an avalanche can have a force of up to 50 tons per square meter. Similar natural disasters in Russia most often occur in the Kola Peninsula, the North Caucasus, the Urals, the Far East and Western Siberia.

An avalanche can be triggered by intense snowmelt, prolonged snowfalls, earthquakes and any significant human-induced air fluctuations.

Precautions

Inhabitants inhabiting highland areas know well what a collapse is and, as a rule, carry out certain activities to strengthen territories, houses in order to protect them. Stations and posts of the hydrometeorological service are obliged to inform the population in a timely manner about the danger associated with landslide pockets and their area of operation.

Laying a railway track in mountainous areas requires careful identification of sections that are disadvantaged by landslides in order to bypass them as much as possible. Particularly steep slopes during the construction of roads are laid with stone. When developing quarries, the nature of the rocks, the direction of the cracks are studied in order to prevent shedding of the overlying layer.

Actions in the event of a collapse

Natural disasters in the form of landslides or landslides can have the most unpleasant consequences. Therefore, upon receipt of information about their possible threat, all the population living in this territory, together withproperty, as well as farm animals, are being evacuated to safer places.

This is done in accordance with the established procedure. If time permits, before evacuation, it is necessary to carry out preparatory work - remove all property inside the house, closing doors and windows tightly. Be sure to turn off electricity, water and gas.

People warn each other about the danger. When there is a threat of a landslide, an emergency exit is carried out on the safe slopes of mountains or hills. Climbing them, you can not move along the gorges, recesses and valleys, so as not to fall into the bed of the mudflow.

It is possible to return to the original place when the collapse or landslide movement is over only when you are fully convinced that there is no threat. Only in this case it is worthwhile to search for missing people and provide assistance to the victims. Knowing what a collapse is, local residents of the highlands usually know how to behave in such situations, and are ready to quickly pack up and evacuate to a safe place at any time.