American Reacts to Landslides in Norway

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As an American I have never experienced a landslide here in the USA. Today I'm very interested to see what landslides are like for the first time. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!

[Henoik]

On the 30th of December, 2020, we had one of the most devastating landslides in modern times. Ten were injured, eleven people lost their lives (counting an unborn child), and there were millions in property damage. 15.000 people were evacuated. I volunteer in the Red Cross and I remember that day clearly. We couldn't do anything. We flew around with drones trying to scope out the area and search for people who were trapped, but it was very difficult, even with IR cameras.

[TravelElg]

It is a special type of clay we have in Norway. Google translate did this:
Quick clay is a special type of clay that occurs in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Canada and Alaska below the marine boundary. These are clays that have been deposited with an internal lattice structure in a marine environment, then salt has been washed out by fresh groundwater after the land areas rose after the last ice age. When the salt that ensures electrostatic bonds between the clay particles has been washed away, the clay is considered quick.

[mjrdainbramage]

All of Scandinavia was part of the sea floor during the last ice age, as the weight of the ice literally pushed the land below sea level. This caused the soil to be saturated by silt, clay, marine sediments, and a large amount of salt, resting on top of bedrock. As the ice age subsided massive glaciers slid out to sea, carving out fjords, eroding mountains, and depositing clay, salt, and sand along the way. As the ice disappeared, the land rose from the sea, and eventually settled as dry land. Through thousands of years the salt was slowly washed out of the ground, leaving some areas with large clay deposits that are constantly weakening.

You can build houses, and live on it for hundreds of years without any sign of problems. But under the right conditions the clay can become saturated with water, and without the binding effect created by the salt, it can turn into a liquid that that will simply flow like water. Anything resting on top of the clay will float away with it. Heavy rainfall, or flooding can cause the clay to liquefy, but it can also be caused by manually disturbing the soil, or by loss of vegetation that also serves as a bonding material. During the last 8 years we have had two large landslides very close to where I live, and both seem to have been triggered by construction work in the general area, in addition to large amounts of water in the ground. The first slide caused approximately 140 000 cubic meters of mass to crash down a hill, killing three people that were working in the area. The second slide occurred in 2020, and it was almost twice as big as the previous one. It happened during the night, and 11 people were killed, including a baby, and an unborn child. 31 housing units were destroyed, and around 1500 people had to be evacuated. These two slides were however small in comparison to the largest ones that have been recorded.

On average Norway has experienced 1 - 2 large landslides, rock slides, and avalanches, with casualties, per year for the last 80 years approximately. In most cases there are 1 - 3 deaths per slide, but going further back in time we have had 100+, or even hundreds of deaths in a single incident. In addition there are multiple slides, and avalanches that doesn't kill anyone, but that have caused massive damage to properties.

Back in 1906 the US actually experienced a massive liquefaction event in San Fransisco, which was caused by an earthquake. San Fransisco is partially built on an old marsh that was covered by man made landfill. During the earthquake the landfill liquefied, and almost 80 % of the city was destroyed, and more than 3000 people died as buildings literally sank into the ground, collapsed, or caught fire.

[TomKirkemo-lc]

Rock slides are most often a combination of water in cracks in the the mountainsides, it freezes in winter and expands, making the cracks bigger each year until a part brakes off. Then the rocks pushes other rocks and...kind of a rock avalanche.

[olenilsen]

8:58 - No. Norway has very little extreme weather. We know nothing about Tornadoes, Hurricanes or whatever. But we do have a very young country, as it´s still rising after being weighed down by the ice. And a lot of sea bottom (clay) follows, being washed out by quite a few glaciers still melting. If you´ve kept up this far, you should know that the fresh water from the glaciers washes out the salts in the clay, and this creates quick clay. Quick clay doesn´t give any notice. One day it just decides: " I want to be in the ocean again" - and then it goes.

[philip]

Should look the landslide in Rissa (Rissaskredet and Gjerdrum)

[MrMudbill]

Rain is usually what causes a landslide. It happens because the water softens the earth, especially in places where the earth is primarily made out of clay. If you know anything about clay, you know how it interacts with water. Not only does water make clay susceptible to breaking apart, water also generally makes everything heavier, which again increases the risk that something gets too heavy and snaps loose. If this happens to a large area of land, the entire chunk can slide off.

[Isamolle]

South-west Norway: Just driving efficiently past the places you know it’s a possibility for some rocks in the spring after/when ice is thawing and there’s been heavy rain, on the roads that are prone to rock slides or more likely single rolling rocks. Drive carefully and stay alert. ❤

[nicolaiosmundsen]

On rare occations, there are also mountain slides. The last "big" one was Veslemannen, but they also fear that a part of the mountain called mannen will fall. Mannen is around 100 times as big as Veslemannen. Another one, that would cause a catastrophe is Åkneset. Åkneset moves around 10 cm each year, and will fall into the Geiranger fjord, and can cause a tsunami of up to 70 meters.

[trulybtd]

Quick clay slides happen like this: Under the soil there is a layer of clay known as quick clay. It is rigid until the mineral/salt content drops to low, after which point it becomes fluid ("quick"). So in essence you have a patch of soil riding on top of a very slippery layer of clay. This is actively avoided by literally salting the ground in places it is know to be a problem.

[olenilsen]

5:13 - Not really a house, that´s what we call a "nail tent" - It´s like a permanent caravan at one of those parks...Or maybe a construction worker´s housing that´s been converted in some way.Either way, you can tell by the width that it was originally made for road transport. Add to it, that the majority of camping grounds are located close to the water - be it a river, a lake or the ocean - my guess is that it came from a nearby camping ground, and it would be one of those nail tents.

The "Hans" storm also ruptured a dam at the hydroelectical plant in Braskereidfoss. The flood gates failed, and the water found another way through. Water will do this - it just tears you a new one....

6:43 - I understand why you would think that, and normally it´s like that here as well. Lately, however, I´ve been thinking a lot about how our extremes are changing. Think of Fukushima. They had only planned for Tsunamis 7 metres high. The one that struck was well over 15 metres. How do you plan for that? Also, in Norway a lot of settlements were made 200 years ago, at least. How did they plan for something like this? My wild guess is they didn´t- but the soil was fertile, and the rock was not, so they usually built on the rock. And I thank those old geezers for it. In the end though - we probably still have a lot to learn! This planet is several billions year old. We´ve been here for a few thousands....

[CM-eynq]

Tyler reacting to landslides: The land is sliding! Don't ever change, Tyler :)

[miahelvin]

the movie bølgen or the wave is about a huge rockslide in geirangerfjorden causing a tsumani sized wave. It is a really good movie

[oh]

A rockslide into a fjord is, in fact, one of the most catastrophic events. If it is large enough, it can generate a tsunami-like wave tens of meters high.

For instance, one of the worst such events in Norway occurred in 1934, when a rockslide in Tafjorden caused a wave over 60 meters high, resulting in significant loss of life and destruction.

[Xirque]

The rockslidevin Gudvangen civered the whole vakkey with a 2 cm thick layer of rock "dust" afterwards. I was there from 18-22 and we had a few big ones in that beriod as cc well, but not as big as this one. Small rock slides was a daily thing in the summer and avalanches during the winter.

[mikaelmilo]

Must see Rissa Raset. First landslide recorded on tape. Big farms passes in 30km/h.

[dunkalars]

Im living in north norway. we get rockslides from time to time. Mostly in early spring. People put up big steel "nets" along the roads to minimise damage.

[TomKirkemo-lc]

Landslides are relatively common in Norway. We usuakky have a few each year. Some are in aeras where people have built their houses.

[liss]

I recommand watching the movie called "Bølgen", it's based on a real occurrance that will happen sometime in the unforseen future, nobody knows when. Basically what will happen is that part of the mountain will fall into the Geiranger fjord and create a 80 meter tall wave that will wash over Geiranger among other towns within minutes, crushing everything in its path. The mountain is closely monitored so that they can evacuate people before it falls, and the towns in question have sirens installed to warn any people that may still be there.

[jarmoluotonen]

I was in Norway during rainstorm ”Hans” last year, luckily outside the worst affected areas. Nevertheless, even there it was days of heavy, almost non-stop rain.

I was also in Norway during the rockslide near Gudvangen (3rd clip) in 2016 - I was staying in Flåm village close-by. Because of the closed road my planned bus trip to Bergen changed to train via famous Flåmsbana railway, which turned out to be blessing in disguise since the views are fantastic.