Australian Mass Wasting

In Australia, 114 landslides are known to have caused injury or death during the period 1842 to December 2011. At least 138 people have been killed and 174 injured. The naturally-occurring events causing death varied from the fall of a single rock to spectacular debris flows and their flash flood run outs. Many landslides that killed or injured people were the result of human activity. During the period 2000-2011, over half the landslides causing injury or death were directly or indirectly human-caused. Most deaths were caused by trench and beach sand or excavation cave-ins, while most injuries were caused by edge-of-road collapses due to vehicle weight.
On 22 March 2010, intense rain brought by a severe storm triggered a debris flow from the escarpment at Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia, behind the Adelphi, Waldorf, Acacia and Park Lane apartments, causing more than 100 residents to be evacuated. Mud surrounded two vehicles and entered apartments through the windows, filling two with mud deeper than 1.2 meters. A section of the eastbound lane of Mounts Road was also closed.

What Australia is doing to prevent Landslides

• Capture and drainage of water before it reaches potential slope area
• Underground drainage by using sub-surface pipes
• Land Reform by terracing/re-shaping
• Reforestation, planting of deep rooting trees to prevent surface slips
• Ground cover with grass or agricultural crops
• Use of Gabion construction to protect water course valleys and control the flow of water down slope