Abstract
The most common type of landslides in Sri Lanka is shallow, rapid-moving slope failures, particularly in response to an intense, short-duration storm. Different from reactivated landslides, the slope failures frequently occur on steep natural and artificial slopes without indications, thus posing a significant risk to population and property. An inventory survey of slope failures showed that the slope failures were related largely to slope steepness and slope height, and more than 80% of the slope failures occurred on slopes with a slope angle of 25–45° and a slope height of more than 5 m. A simple topographical model was developed based on the inventory survey results. The topographical model can be used to predict slope failure hazard areas and to prepare site-specific slope failure hazard maps for residential developments and land use planning decisions in sloping area.
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Acknowledgements
The survey was conducted under the project SABO—a joint project between JICA and NBRO aiming to strengthen the capacity to conduct site specific hazard mapping and risk assessments, to develop landslide early warning system at local level and to apply risk assessments of landslide disasters to land use planning and development control. The authors would like to acknowledge all the technical and financial supports given by JICA and NBRO to complete the survey.
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Yang, P., Nishikawa, T., Hemasinghe, H.H., Jayathissa, H.A.G. (2021). Inventory Survey of Slope Failures in Sri Lanka. In: Amaratunga, D., Haigh, R., Dias, N. (eds) Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73003-1_24
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