The 2013 rockslide disaster of Aizawl, Mizoram, India

Laldinpuia , Shiva Kumar, T. N. Singh

Science Vision 13 (2), 58-63 | Published on 30 June 2013 |

Abstract

The early morning landslide (at 2:45 a.m. local time) of 15 May 2013 shocked the city of Aizawl, India. An abrupt rockslide forced a series of building collapse at Laipuitlang all the way down to Ramhlun Venglai area, which have been very high landslide prone regions of Aizawl. The disastrous landslide covered an area of 1025 sq m and an estimated volume of about 8 Mm3. From the massive wreck, 17 corpses were exhumed, 8 persons were rescued alive, from the collapse of 15 houses. The area has a history is violent and dangerous geologic events during the last century. The ultimate collateral damage could have been due to a combination of the soft and high porous rock bedding, the steep slope, heavy rainfall, thunderstorm, anthropic destruction of the rock bed and overweight constructions. This brief report presents a summary of our observations pertinent to the landslide activities based on our field investigations. This report particularly focuses on the geological implications related to the landslide development, and identification of the landslide mechanism and its triggering factors.

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