Geography 361: Environmental Hazards (Group 3)

Landslides: Causes of the Landslide in Guinsaugon, Philippines
 

 
Homepage
Hazard Identification
Landslide History of the Philippines
Background of the landslide
Effects of the landslide
Identifying dangerous zones
Reduce losses
References
Geography 361 Homepage
Large sections of hills and mountains occasionally break free and barrel down their slope engulfing and destroying anything in the path of descent. Lives, property, and ways of life can be erased within minutes sometimes seconds. Landslides occur around the world anywhere slope on the earth’s surface exists. The Philippines has experienced several mass movements in the last few decades.

The Philippines is a country comprised of approximately seven thousand islands off the southern coast of Asia. These mountainous islands are located between 4 degrees north and 22 degrees north latitudes and 116 degrees and 127 degrees east longitude. This places these islands in the west Pacific Typhoon belt. Monsoons and typhoons (regional name for what we call a Hurricane), average twenty to thirty Typhoons per year, bring heavy rainfall to this part of the region. Increasingly the Philippines are experiencing large landslides due to the combinations of heavy rain fall and loss of indigenous vegetation especially trees harvested for export. In this presentation we will be giving a brief history of landslides in the Philippines, describe the workings of the event, its causes, and prevention.

Case: Guinsaugon Landslide

Where? See map

When? Feb 17th, 2006



Location of the Philippines. Circled in red is the province of Leyte, Guinsaugon is located on the southern part of the island.

 

Photographs of the Big Landslide

 

Webpage Designers: Ashley Wong, Jac Chambers, Jenny Briggs and Lance Valiquette

Questions? Email: wongk@uwec.edu

Last Update: May 8th, 2006