GuinsaugonLandslide

WinnieLiu7C

><LOCATION><MountainsofSouthernLeyte

<>DESCRIPTION:
SouthernLeyteslandstartsoutastall
uneventreefilledmountains.Asit
nearsthecoast,thelandstartsto
becomerelativelyflat.Therearemany
riversnearthisarea,inwhichthereare
11majorones.Mostofthisareais
ratherrockyifnotcoveredinrivers.
SouthernLeytesclimateisrelatively
warm.Tropicalcyclonesarevery
commonduetothefactthatitis
exposedtotheNorth Pacific Ocean.
Which means Leyte experiences a lot of
heavy rain. The landslide covered an area
of 3,324,400squaremeters.

[MapofPhilippine]

><BACKGROUND><
<>AFFECTEDAREALAND:
ThelandslideaffectedthevillageofGuinsaugonwhichinhabitedatthe
bottomofthemountainwherethelandslideoccurred.Thelandhadaregular
rockydirtsurface.Itwascoveredwithplantingfieldsandmanyplantshad
dugtheirrootsintotheland.

<>LANDSLIDEHISTORYANDINDICATION:
TherehavebeentracesofolderlandslidedebrisrightwheretheGuinsaugon
landslideoccurred.Thishasbeenprovenfromtheslightlyelevatedpatchof
land.Wecantakeanother
approachandblowupthe
perspective.Leyteisoneof
theislandsthatmakeup
Philippine.
Philippinehasbeenknown
tobeavulnerableareafor
cyclones.Thisisbecauseit
ismadeupofasmall
clusterofislandsthatare
completelyexposedtothe
NorthPacificOcean.Itis
alsoneartheequator
whichmakescyclonesvery[PrecipitationandTemperatureofPhilippines2006]
verycommon.Thesecyclonescaneasilyresultinlandslides.Thephilippines
isalsoaplacewherealotofothernaturaldisastersoccursuchas
earthquakes,volcanoeruptions,andfloods.Inconclusion,itwasmostly
expectedthatanotherlandslidewouldoccurinSouthernLeyte.(Therewas
noinformationfoundontheslopeangleofthemountainbeforethelandslide
butthetectonicmotionofthelandslideseemedtobemakingthemountains
slopemoreandmoresteep)
 3

><CAUSES><
<>VEGETATION:
Theonlydifferencebetweenbeforeandafterthevillagewasbuiltwhere
buildingsandricepaddiesinthevalley.Thericepaddiesalsoaddedmore
watertothesoil.However,noneweremadeonthemountainbecausethere
wasalotofflatlandsthatisfarmoreconvenienttouse.Furthermore,littleto
notreesthatgrewinthemountainwerelikelytobecutdownforspaceor
profit.Thisisbecausethereisalottreefilledflatlandsalreadysurrounding
thevillagethatwouldbefarmoreconvenienttouse.Thereforethebodyof
themountainremaineduntouchedandthecauseofthelandslidewasnot
fromtheciviliansofLeyte.

<>WEATHER:
Eventhoughithasbeenrecordedthatthemorningofwhenthelandslide
occurredwasverysunnywithoutadropofrain,thedaysbeforeitwas
recordedwithalotofrain.Fromthe8thtothe14thofFebruary,therehas
beenthetotalof683.6millimetersofrain,inwhichonthe12th,therewere
around171millimetersofrain.(Whichwasthedaywiththemostrain.)All
thislargeamountofrainhasweakened/loosenedthesoilandrocksonthe
mountainwhichwasoneofthemainfactorsforthecauseofthelandslide.

<>GEOLOGY:
Therearetwomajorfactors.Firstly,thelandslideoccurreddirectlyontopof
theremainsofanolderlandslide.Thismeansthesoilisfarweakerand
vulnerablecomparedtothesoilsandrockssurroundingit.Thiscanbeshown
fromthestreamofthelandslide,whichseemstospreadacrossthelandscape
furtherthanifitwouldifnolandslidehadeveroccurred.Secondly,thereisa
thinlayerofmudstonewhichisinbetweenlayersofsiltstoneorsandstone.It
waspossiblethatthemudstonehadhelpedmakethelandslideevenmore
intensebylubricatingit.

<>CONCLUSION:
Inconclusion,themajorfactorsthatcausedthislandslideistheexcessive
amountofrainaswellasitsgeologyratherthanthevegetation.

><IMPACT><
ThelandslideburiedgrasslandsandtheentirevillageofGuinsaugonalong
withitare1,857peopleandbuildings.Withonly57fled-survivorsand24at
theedgeofthelandslidethatmanagedtoberescued.Therewasnotmuchof
awarningasnoonewasinformedorawareofthelandslide.Thelandslide
washuge,covering3,324,400squaremeters.11neighboringvillages
survivedandfledtheareaincaseanymorelandslidewasgoingtooccur.
(Thelandslidebasicallyburiedtheentirevillageandleftnothing,sothere
wasnodifferenteffectondifferentareasotherthanneighboringvillages.)

[Afterthelandslide]

><RESPONSE/RECOVERY><
<>EMERGENCYRESPONSE-LOCALAID:
Aidsmostlyconsistsofaidingsurvivors.Survivorsweretemporarily
transferredtoneighboringvillagessuchasBgy.Theystayedinchurches,
schoolsandvacants.Planesweresentcarryingemergencytraumakits,ropes,
clothes,flashlightsandmedicinewhichwereforrescuerstofindpeoplethat
areburiedbutstillaliveinthelandslide.
Corpsethatwereabletobeidentifiedgottransferredtotheirfamilyandones
thatarenotweregivenagraveinneighboringvillages.

[Rescuecrewlookingforsurvivors]

<>EMERGENCYRESPONSE-OTHERCOMMUNITIESANDCORPORATIONS:
Providedmoneyfortherecoveryfromthe
Guinsaugon Landslide. The money was used
for tent and shelter, blankets, tools for
cooking, mosquito nets, hygiene products,
medicine and water purification tablets.


Tohelpfindbodiesthatareburiedinthe
landslide.TheNGOnetworkwasableto
save53people.

TheUnitedStates,ChinaandAustralia
providedatotalofaround8million
dollarsfortherecoveryfromthelandslide.

MalaysiaandSpainsentrescueteamsto
helpfindsurvivors.

<>RECOVERY
TherewerenonewpreventionsforthevillageofGuinsaugon. However, it has
lead to awareness of other places in the world.AftertheguinsaugonLandslide,
thePhilippineInstituteofVolcanologyandSeismologydecidedto
investigatetherisksofdifferentplaces.Whattheyfoundoutwasthatalotof
StBernard,USAwasariskyplacesthatcouldbepronetomanydifferent
hazards.ThepeopleofStBernardhasdecidedtocooperatewithmany
differentNGOsandconductdifferenttypesofdrillsandpracticeson
preparingfordisasters,reducingrisksandadaptingtoclimatechangeforthe
leadersofthecommunity.Drillswerealsoconductedindifferent
communitieslikeschoolsorvillages.Furthermore,TheLocalGovernment
Unithasconductedmitigationprojectsthatpreventstherisksofsmall-scaled
floodsorlandslideshappeninginSt.Bernard.

><SOLUTION><
Eventhoughrebuildingtheentirevillagewouldbeimpossible,Ithinkitisstill
worthhelping.Firstofall,SouthernLeyteisalargepieceoflandthathasgoneto
wastebecauseoftherisksofalandslide.Iflandslideswerelessprobableto
happen,itwouldmeanprovidingextralandtothecitizensofPhilippines.Second,
ofall,manyrelocatedvillagershasclaimedthelandintherelocatedareatobe
unsuitableforgrowingcropsandwereforcedtogobacktothehazardousarea.
Agricultureisahugepartoftheirincomesothevillagersdidnotreallyhavea
choice.

Manysolutionstolandslidesarebyguidingwaterawayfromtheslopes.However,
thesizeofmountainsinLeyteisfartoolarge.Whichmeansthesetraditional
methodswouldnotbeabletopreventanotherlargelandslide.HenceIhave
decidedtotakeanotherapproachtotheproblemandcomeupanothersolution.
Firstly,manytreeshavebeenlostduetothelandslide,thereforewemustreplant
sometrees.However,itisnotgoingtobejustanyregulartree.Ithinkweshould
takethisopportunitytogeneticallymodifyatreethathasbothareallydeepbut
nonabsorbentroot(BecausethereisalotofraininLeyte)andagoodchanceof
survivingharshweather.

Secondly,wecanalsogeneticallymodifyantcoloniesandgivethemtheabilityto
hibernatewhenthereiswateraround.Similartoareverseversionofwaterbears.
Wecanalsogeneticallymodifythemtorepopulatemoreefficiently,avoid
migratingandmostimportantly,digdeeperandprovidestrongerwallsfortheir
tunnelsystems.

Thirdly,wecanbuildanumberofslidesthatcanleadrainwaterawayandtowards
thesea.Thisisalsoreallyhandybecausethewatercanbedirectedunderrice
paddiesandhydratetheplants.Leadingwaterintotheseaisnotahugeproblem
becausetheareainwhichthelandslideoccurredisverynearthesea.(Thatsalso
whytheresalotofrain)
 10

><REFERENCE<
1. http://www.tourism.gov.ph/SitePages/InteractiveSitesPage.aspx?siteID=
48
2. News_http://blog.noah.dost.gov.ph/2006/02/17/guinsaugon-landslide-2
006-in-southern-leyte/
3. http://soil-environment.blogspot.hk/2009/08/causes-of-guinsaugon-lan
dslide.html
4. http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/89/2007/nhess-7-89-2007.
pdf
5. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-02/19/content_521626
.htm
6. https://prezi.com/rb1biaw8gbtv/the-guinsaugon-landslide-philippines-2
006/?webgl=0
7. http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/26098_26098reco
verystatusreportleytemarch.pdf
8. http://www.preventionweb.net/countries/phl/data/
9. http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/recovery/83944-guin
saugon-nine-years-after-landslide
10. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/trees-strong-deep-roots-39326.html
11. http://archive.defense.gov/home/features/Leyte/landslide/index.html
12. http://www.unisdr.org/campaign/resilientcities/Home/cityprofile/City
%20Profile%20Of%20Saint%20Bernard%20Municipality/?id=2422
13. http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/recovery/83944-g
uinsaugon-nine-years-after-landslide
14. http://www.unisdr.org/campaign/resilientcities/Home/cityprofile/City
%20Profile%20Of%20Saint%20Bernard%20Municipality/?id=2422
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15. http://www.gettyimages.com/event/recovery-efforts-continue-in-gui
nsaugon-56930626#this-general-view-shows-members-of-the-search-a
nd-rescue-operation-picture-id56926475