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This blog provides commentary on interesting geological events occurring around the world in the context of my own work. This work is, broadly, geological fluid dynamics. The events that I highlight here are those that resonate with my professional life and ideas, and my goal is to interpret them in the context of ideas I've developed in my research. The blog does not represent any particular research agenda. It is written on a personal basis and does not seek to represent the University of Illinois, where I am a professor of geology and physics. Enjoy Geology in Motion! I would be glad to be alerted to geologic events of interest to post here! I hope that this blog can provide current event materials that will make geology come alive.

Banner image is by Ludie Cochrane..

Susan Kieffer can be contacted at s1kieffer at gmail.com


Monday, December 21, 2015

Horrific landslide slams industrial park in Shenzhen, China

Building after hit by landslide, from CNN.com here        

On Sunday, noon local time, a landslide (mudflow?) slammed into an industrial park burying, according to recent CNN reports, 22 buildings according to the CNN report, 33 buildings according to a NYTimes.com report. The site appears to be fairly close to Hong Kong on the north side, and in an area of steep hills. Accounts are obviously very preliminary at this time. Three buildings housed workers. 1500 rescue workers are on site combing through rubble. A section of a major pipeline carrying natural gas exploded when hit by the slide. A video of one building collapsing is available here (from CNN.com), but it doesn't show anything of the slide/flow itself.  I will update this if more information becomes available, and I recommend keeping an eye out for a post on AGU's Landslide Blog. Dave Petley hasn't posted anything as of the time I'm writing (approximately midnight, US west coast time), but he will likely have a thorough report in the near future.

The Twitter account of the official People's Daily, citing the Ministry of Land and Resources, reports that the material that flowed was a huge pile of construction debris.

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