2006 Southern Leyte mudslide

Major landslide in the Philippines November 2025 February 2023 February 2023 Southern Leyte mudslide 2006 pic01.jpg View of the Southern Leyte rockslide-debris avalanche toe 2006 02 17 10:30 UTC+08:00 Guinsaugon, Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, Philippines 1,126 10 20 15 N 125 05 51 E region:PH_type:event inline,title thumb|View of the Southern Leyte rockslide-debris avalanche body from the landslide crown. Distance to the toe is approximately 4 km. thumb|Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite with this view of the landslide that buried a town. On February 17, 2006, a massive rock slide-debris avalanche occurred in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte, causing widespread damage and loss of life. The deadly landslide (or debris flow) followed a 10-day period of heavy rain and a minor earthquake (magnitude 2.6 on the moment magnitude scale). The official death toll was 1,126."Philippine Landslide and Flood Operations Update #7" https://web.archive.org/web/20090807212947/http://www.ifrc.org/cgi/pdf_appeals.pl?06%2FMDRPH00107.pdf August 7, 2009 , red, Red Cross, Appeal #MDRPH00107, update August 7, 31, 2007 Overview At around 10:30 on February 17, 2006, a cliff face of a ridge straddling the Philippine Fault collapsed in a combination rockslide-debris mass movement event, translocating and subsequently burying Guinsaugon village in the township of Saint Bernard. "Disaster Relief: Too Late, Earth Scans Reveal the Power of a Killer Landslide", Science Magazine, March 31, 2006 Up to ten smaller landslides had occurred within the previous week in the vicinity of St. Bernard, but Guinsaugon was the worst-hit community.February 2022 Among the worst of the tragedies was the burial of the local elementary school, located nearest to the mountain ridge, as the landslide occurred when school was in session and full of children. Provincial Governor Rosette Lerias said at the time the school had 246 students and seven teachers; only a child and an adult were rescued immediately after the disaster transpired. About 80 women who participated in the celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Guinsaugon Women's Health Association were also lost in the landslide."80 Abanse! Pinay members still missing in Guinsaugon" https://web.archive.org/web/20090802034124/http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/leytelandslide/view.php?db=0&article=20060222-67012 August 2, 2009 , Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 22, 2006 Lerias said that although several residents had left the area the week before due to the fear of landslides, several returned when the rains had eased.February 2022 Rescue and relief Rescue teams including military personnel proceeded to the affected areas.February 2022 However, relief efforts were hampered by rain, chest-deep mud, roads blocked by boulders, washed-out bridges, and lack of heavy equipment.February 2022 A minor earthquake in the morning of February 17 also affected the relief operation as the ground remained unstable.February 2022 President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave an address on television stating that "help is on the way". Navy and coast guard ships were dispatched to the coastal area."Hundreds feared dead in Philippine mudslide", Reuters, February 17, 2006 On February 17, Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard J. Gordon who was then in Geneva, Switzerland, attending a board meeting of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement appealed for international assistance. He raised US$1.5 million to help the victims of the mudslides. The funds were used to purchase tents, blankets, cooking utensils, mosquito nets, temporary shelter materials, hygiene articles, water purification tablets and medicines. US$152,000 was released to provide initial assistance. A relief plane was flown into the region carrying emergency trauma kits, rubber boots, ropes, clothing, flashlights and medicine. Three Philippines National Red Cross teams with search and rescue dogs were at the site to provide assistance, with others joining soon afterward."Red Cross seeks $1.5 mln for Philippine mudslide", Reuters, February 17, 2006 The Red Cross said that it feared that the death toll would be high. The United States sent three naval vessels, the USS Curtis Wilbur, USS Essex, and USS Harpers Ferry with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, to the area to provide assistance."USS Essex, USS Harpers Ferry and USS Curtis Wilbur Arrive on Station to Help Philippine Mudslide Victims" About 6,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops were in the Philippines for an annual bilateral exercise.No Signs of Life' after Huge Mudslide hits Philippines, Pakistan Times The US government also donated $100,000 worth of disaster equipment to the Philippine National Red Cross. USAID turned over 29 million pesos (about $560,000) worth of food and non-food items.Landslide triggers avalanche of international aid, The Inquirer, February 19, 2006 Other countries donated or pledged assistance to the Philippine government.February 2022 China offered a donation of $1 million in cash and material.February 2022 Australia also offered AU$1 million ($740,000) in immediate relief.February 2022 Taiwan pledged enough medicine to treat 3,000 people for a month and a half along with $100,000.February 2022 Thailand also pledged $1 million.February 2022 Malaysia sent a 60-man search-and-rescue and medical assistance team, the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance Team (SMART).February 2022 Spain, through a non-government organization, the Unidad Canina de Rescate y Salvamento, sent a six-man rescue team equipped with five sniffer dogs to aid in the relief and rescue efforts. South Korea promised $1 million. New Zealand sent $133,000 to be used in future rescue operations. Singapore said, according to a statement from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, that officials would help the Arroyo administration in any way possible. Indonesia and Turkey offered humanitarian contingents as well. The Philippine National Red Cross reported that 53 persons were rescued from the mud on February 17, but the rescue efforts had to be suspended at nightfall for safety reasons. Possible causes Congressman Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte claimed in a Reuters interview that logging and mining done in the area three decades ago was the main culprit.Hundreds feared dead in Philippine mudslideJuly 2021 medicmedic, Reuters, February 17, 2006 Dave Petley, professor at the International Landslide Centre, Durham University, told the BBC that the causes Mercado mentioned, if proven true, created a "dangerous combination" that produced a "classic landslide scenario"."What caused Philippines landslide?", BBC, February 17, 2006 However, local government officials and eyewitnesses claimed anecdotally that the area was "well forested" and the governor's office said that deforestation from mining and logging activities were not the causal factor, although no scientific evidence was presented to back the claims. The governor’s office did not explain why the soil was so unstable at the time of the slide, after millennia of stability. Experts did agree that torrential rains lasting two weeks before the mudslide were the tipping point that precipitated the disaster. Rainfall amounting to nearly 1200 mm over the period of February 4–1410.1029/2006EO120001 Scientists investigate recent Philippine landslide Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 87 12 121 2006 Lagmay Alfredo Mahar A Ong John Burtkenley T Fernandez Dan Ferdinand D Lapus Mark R Rodolfo Raymond S Tengonciang Arlene Mae P Soria Janneli Lea A Baliatan Eden G Quimba Zareth L Uichanco Christopher L Paguican Engielle Mae R Remedio Armelle Reca C Lorenzo Genevieve Rose H Avila Francia B Valdivia Waldemar 3 2006EOSTr..87..121L free loosened the soil so much that the resulting sludge and rocks thundered down the slopes of nearby Mount Can-abag, virtually disintegrating it. The La Niña weather phenomenon was blamed for the non-stop rains that occurred in the province. San Francisco, Agusan del Sur mayor Carie Ladernora declared the state of calamity on her town by February 12, 2006.http://www.philreporter.com/Issue-03-1-15-06/Leyte%20Mudslide.doc Microsoft Word Leyte Mudslide: CDRC Report on St. Bernard Citizens' Disaster Response Center February 15, 2018 February 16, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030045/http://www.philreporter.com/Issue-03-1-15-06/Leyte%20Mudslide.doc dead The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology recorded a magnitude 2.6 earthquake in Southern Leyte just prior to the landslide although the effects of this are unclear. 2008 workshop After two years, the international geoscience community including experts from Japan, Canada, United States, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Hong Kong, UK, Taiwan and the Philippines, came together in Tacloban and St. Bernard to examine known information on the Guinsaugon disaster. In addition, the workshop was tasked with determining the next steps after the disaster. The landslide is classified as a rock slide-debris avalanche using the Varnes (1978)Varnes D. J.: Slope movement types and processes. In: Schuster R. L. & Krizek R. J. Ed., Landslides, analysis and control. Transportation Research Board Sp. Rep. No. 176, Nat. Acad. oi Sciences, pp. 11–33, 1978. or Cruden and Varnes (1996)Cruden D.M., VARNES D. J. (1996) – Landslide types and processes. In: Turner A.K.; Shuster R.L. (eds) Landslides: Investigation and Mitigation. Transp Res Board, Spec Rep 247, pp 36–75. classification. Volume estimates in recent publications range between 14 MCM (million cubic metres) and 20 MCM, converging on or about 15 MCM. Catane Sandra G. Cabria Hillel B. Zarco Mark Albert H. Saturay Ricarido M. Mirasol-Robert Aileen A. The 17 February 2006 Guinsaugon rock slide-debris avalanche, Southern Leyte, Philippines: deposit characteristics and failure mechanism Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 67 305 2008 10.1007/s10064-008-0120-y 3 128915964 Catane, S.G., Cabria, H.B., Tomarong, C.P., Saturay, R.M., Zarco, M.A.H. and Pioquinto, W.C. 2007. Catastrophic rockslide-debris avalanche at St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, Philippines. Landslides, 4.Evans, S.G., Guthrie, R.H., Roberts, N.J., and Bishop, N.F. 2007. The disastrous February 17, 2006, rockslide-debris avalanche on Leyte Island, Philippines: a catastrophic landslide in tropical mountain terrain. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 7, 89 – 101.Orense, R.P. and Sapuay, S.E. 2006. Preliminary report on February 17, 2006, Leyte Philippines landslide. Soils and Foundations, 45, 685–693.Makino, M., Mandanas, A.A. and Catane, S.G. 2007. Gravity basement of the Guinsaugon landslide along the Philippine Fault Zone. Earth Planets Space, 59, 1067 – 1071. There is general accord among scientists that high precipitation a week prior to the failure contributed to the conditions at failure, but the 5 day delay between the rain and the landslide, and the fact that Southern Leyte regularly gets high overall levels of precipitation means that the precise nature of that contribution is unknown. Similarly, the role of minor ground shaking that occurred at about the same time is still uncertain. "Was the landslide caused by ground shaking or excessive rain? This is one of the things that is not yet resolved." said Dr. Mark Albert Zarco, a professor at the Department of Engineering Sciences, University of the Philippines Diliman in a news story. Importantly, the geological and geomorphological history of the slope including, for example, the prominent strike-slip movement of about 2.5 cm per year, has ultimately lead to failures all along the scarp, including the one that buried Guinsaugon. Richard Guthrie, of University of Waterloo, Canada, stated: "We have had very large rains and we have had very large earthquakes in the past; The rocks have been stretched and strained. As time moves on, the rock begins to age and die and finally it collapses. The important thing is that we’re able to know the preconditioning of the slopes." www.gmanews.tv, Scientists clueless on cause of Southern Leyte landslide Scientists built a synthesis paper on the landslide and a set of recommendations regarding the next steps for the Philippines in relation to landslide hazards.February 2023 May 2006 mudslide Due to Typhoon Chanchu (Philippine name: Caloy), flash floods and mudslides isolated at least 11 barangays in Sogod, Southern Leyte. No casualties were reported.Storm triggers landslides; thousands stranded, INQ7.net, May 12, 2006 In popular culture Footage taken during helicopter rescues after the mudslide was featured in an episode of the American reality television series, World's Most Amazing Videos.February 2022 See also Philippines List of landslides Tropical Storm Thelma (Uring, 1991) Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda, 2013) References Citations Sources A.M.F. Lagmay, J. B. T. Ong, D.F.D. Fernandez, M. R. Lapus, R. S. Rodolfo, A. M. P. Tengonciang, J.L.A. Soria, E. G. Baliatan, Z. L. Quimba, C. L. Uichanco, E. M. R. Paguican, A. R. C. Remedio, G.R.H. Lorenzo, W. Valdivia, and F. B. Avila (2006) "Scientists investigate recent Philippine Landslide". EOS vol 87 no. 12, pp. 121–124. Lagmay, A.M.F., Raymond S. Rodolfo, Arlene Mae P. Tengonciang, Janneli Lea T. Soria, John Burtkenley T. Ong, Dan Ferdinand D. Fernandez, Mark R.Lapus, Eden G. Baliatan, Zareth P. Quimba, Christopher L. Uichanco, Engielle R. Paguican (2008) "Science guides search and rescue after the 2006 Philippine landslide" Journal of Disasters. 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2008.01047.x vol.32(3): 416–33. External links 2006 Southern Leyte mudslide 1500 Missing in Village Mudslide – CBC Dean Bernardo February 17, 2006 Philippine rescuers find bodies – BBC News February 19, 2006 Philippine rescue teams find more bodies – MSNBC February 19, 2006 Hope fades for villagers in Philippine mudslide horror – The Observer John Aglionby, February 19, 2006 Mud wipes out Philippines village – BBC News February 17, 2006 What caused Philippines landslide? – BBC News February 17, 2006 Category:2006 disasters in the Philippines Category:February 2006 in the Philippines 2006 mudslide Category:Landslides in 2006 Category:Landslides in the Philippines