Trapped Underground – Thredbo Landslide

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The ground beneath our feet is solid and secure, isn’t it? Well, here’s a reality check.

New South Wales, Australia, the snowy mountain range 260 miles south of Sydney, home to the tiny ski resort village of Thredbo. On the night of 30th July 1997 the hillside started to move, at first a few inches, then a few feet, before becoming an unstoppable torrent racing downhill. More than 70 thousand cubic feet of earth, 3800 tonnes of soaking wet mud and rock, broke loose and hurtled down the mountainside, crushing two ski lodges and burying 19 people, before sliding to a halt on a precarious 40 degree slope. The riddle of what set this landslide in motion led to one of the most lengthy and complex landslide investigations ever mounted.

Nature’s forces constantly refashion our world, volcanoes, earthquakes, wind, waves, and landslides, capable of killing tens of thousands of people. Science offers scant protection against these overwhelming forces of nature. To save ourselves from landslides, we need to understand why they happen.

Clip taken from the Naked Science documentary “Landslides”.

Watch it here – Coming soon!