LANDSLIDE CAUSES

1. Geological causes
a. Weak or sensitive materials
b. Weathered materials
c. Sheared, jointed, or fissured materials
d. Adversely oriented discontinuity
(bedding, schistosity, fault,
unconformity, contact, and so forth)
e. Contrast in permeability and/or
stiffness of materials
2. Morphological causes
a. Tectonic or volcanic uplift
b. Glacial rebound
c. Fluvial, wave, or glacial erosion of
slope toe or lateral margins
d. Subterranean erosion (solution,
piping)
e. Deposition loading slope or its crest
f. Vegetation removal (by fire, drought)
g. Thawing
h. Freeze-and-thaw weathering
i. Shrink-and-swell weathering
3. Human causes
a. Excavation of slope or its toe
b. Loading of slope or its crest
c. Drawdown (of reservoirs)
d. Deforestation
e. Irrigation
f. Mining
g. Artificial vibration
h. Water leakage from utilities