On which river did the landslide of the century occur? Landslides are the greatest disasters on planet earth

In the mountains, 27 tourist bases and 49 registered tour groups, consisting of more than 500 people, including 133 foreigners, were cut off. After a mudflow in the Elbrus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, three cars fell into the Baksan River, in which two people were rescued, and rescuers are looking for three more.

August 18, 2017 showers and thunderstorms with hail (Crimea). A mudflow with mud flooded households in the Sudak region, vehicles, communications in the village of Krasnokamenka (Kizil-Tash), and the disaster also damaged vineyards near Sudak. The mudflow damaged about 42 hectares of vineyards, 15 of which were completely washed away.

On the night of June 22, 2016, after heavy rains, a rock formation leading to the Shatoisky and Itum-Kalinsky districts of Chechnya blocked the passage of vehicles. 27 mountain settlements with a population of about 16 thousand people were cut off from the outside world. The landslide blocked a section of the road about 50 meters long and up to six meters wide.

On June 9, 2016, as a result of rainfall in Chechnya and Dagestan, 65 residential buildings were flooded or damaged by mudflows. 125 people were relocated to a temporary accommodation facility. Water from a road bridge in the Shalinsky district of Chechnya. In the Shatoi region of the republic, mudflows blocked road connections with seven settlements.

On October 15, 2015, about 350 cubic meters of mud-stone mass fell, according to updated data, onto the railway track between Dagomys and Sochi, which. On the railway tracks on the slope side, the soil reached a level of more than one meter. On the sea side, the movement of trains was hampered by trees that had fallen during the landslide. 122 people and 15 pieces of equipment were involved in eliminating the consequences of the incident.

On July 20, 2014, in the Adler region, a mudflow occurred on the road in Krasnaya Polyana near the technological tunnel behind the Rosa Khutor ski resort. Twenty cars containing more than a hundred people, 50 people were evacuated by rescuers, another 40 people wished to stay near their cars. It took road services about two days to eliminate the consequences of the mudflow. On July 27, the second mudflow in a week occurred on the road in Krasnaya Polyana. Several cars .

On June 28, 2014, heavy rains occurred in the Tunkinsky district of Buryatia. To the village of Arshan, where almost 3 thousand people live, from the mountains along the bed of the Kyngarga River. Five streets were flooded. One person died. According to the republican authorities, a total of 112 houses fell into the emergency zone, 15 of which were completely destroyed. The damage amounted to hundreds of millions of rubles.

On the night of October 10, 2012, as a result of heavy rains that caused mudflows in Derbent (Dagestan), they were flooded. . In total, 1.12 thousand people were caught in the flood zone.

On August 29, 2009, after three days of rain in the vicinity of Karamken, Magadan Region, a mudflow, which serves as a drainage channel for the waste rock (tailings) storage facility of the former gold mining and processing plant. The mud flow blocked the Tumanny channel, water poured into the Khasyn River, the level of which began to rise rapidly, after which the Karamkensky GOK dam broke. As a result, the water flow demolished 11 prefabricated houses in Karamken, one person died, and one woman went missing.

On June 15, 2008, a mudflow that descended onto the road near the village of Zagardon, Alagirsky district, North Ossetia, completely filled the Kurtatinsky gorge with about 50 cars, in which there were approximately 150 people. In the evening of the same day, the highway was completely unblocked; road service equipment cut a track along which passenger cars were able to leave the gorge.

On the night of 17 houses were damaged as a result of a mudflow in the upper part of the village of Bulungu, Chegem region of Kabardino-Balkaria, eight of which were completely destroyed. The mudflow also destroyed outbuildings, vehicles and livestock. Of the 11 missing village residents, ten were found.

In June 2007, a landslide occurred in the Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka, as a result of which seven geysers were under rubble, and about a dozen were flooded by a dammed lake. Subsequently, most of the geysers resumed operation, and new outlets of hot springs formed. In September 2013, the flooded Skalisty and Artifact geysers began to gush again. In January 2014, a mudflow of clay, water and snow again transformed the Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka. The observation deck at the Shchel geyser was washed away by a stream of clay, water and snow. The operating hours of the largest geyser in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, the Giant, have temporarily changed.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti

In the mountains, 27 tourist bases and 49 registered tour groups, consisting of more than 500 people, including 133 foreigners, were cut off. After a mudflow in the Elbrus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, three cars fell into the Baksan River, in which two people were rescued, and rescuers are looking for three more.

August 18, 2017 showers and thunderstorms with hail (Crimea). A mudflow with mud flooded households in the Sudak region, vehicles, communications in the village of Krasnokamenka (Kizil-Tash), and the disaster also damaged vineyards near Sudak. The mudflow damaged about 42 hectares of vineyards, 15 of which were completely washed away.

On the night of June 22, 2016, after heavy rains, a rock formation leading to the Shatoisky and Itum-Kalinsky districts of Chechnya blocked the passage of vehicles. 27 mountain settlements with a population of about 16 thousand people were cut off from the outside world. The landslide blocked a section of the road about 50 meters long and up to six meters wide.

On June 9, 2016, as a result of rainfall in Chechnya and Dagestan, 65 residential buildings were flooded or damaged by mudflows. 125 people were relocated to a temporary accommodation facility. Water from a road bridge in the Shalinsky district of Chechnya. In the Shatoi region of the republic, mudflows blocked road connections with seven settlements.

On October 15, 2015, about 350 cubic meters of mud-stone mass fell, according to updated data, onto the railway track between Dagomys and Sochi, which. On the railway tracks on the slope side, the soil reached a level of more than one meter. On the sea side, the movement of trains was hampered by trees that had fallen during the landslide. 122 people and 15 pieces of equipment were involved in eliminating the consequences of the incident.

On July 20, 2014, in the Adler region, a mudflow occurred on the road in Krasnaya Polyana near the technological tunnel behind the Rosa Khutor ski resort. Twenty cars containing more than a hundred people, 50 people were evacuated by rescuers, another 40 people wished to stay near their cars. It took road services about two days to eliminate the consequences of the mudflow. On July 27, the second mudflow in a week occurred on the road in Krasnaya Polyana. Several cars .

On June 28, 2014, heavy rains occurred in the Tunkinsky district of Buryatia. To the village of Arshan, where almost 3 thousand people live, from the mountains along the bed of the Kyngarga River. Five streets were flooded. One person died. According to the republican authorities, a total of 112 houses fell into the emergency zone, 15 of which were completely destroyed. The damage amounted to hundreds of millions of rubles.

On the night of October 10, 2012, as a result of heavy rains that caused mudflows in Derbent (Dagestan), they were flooded. . In total, 1.12 thousand people were caught in the flood zone.

On August 29, 2009, after three days of rain in the vicinity of Karamken, Magadan Region, a mudflow, which serves as a drainage channel for the waste rock (tailings) storage facility of the former gold mining and processing plant. The mud flow blocked the Tumanny channel, water poured into the Khasyn River, the level of which began to rise rapidly, after which the Karamkensky GOK dam broke. As a result, the water flow demolished 11 prefabricated houses in Karamken, one person died, and one woman went missing.

On June 15, 2008, a mudflow that descended onto the road near the village of Zagardon, Alagirsky district, North Ossetia, completely filled the Kurtatinsky gorge with about 50 cars, in which there were approximately 150 people. In the evening of the same day, the highway was completely unblocked; road service equipment cut a track along which passenger cars were able to leave the gorge.

On the night of 17 houses were damaged as a result of a mudflow in the upper part of the village of Bulungu, Chegem region of Kabardino-Balkaria, eight of which were completely destroyed. The mudflow also destroyed outbuildings, vehicles and livestock. Of the 11 missing village residents, ten were found.

In June 2007, a landslide occurred in the Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka, as a result of which seven geysers were under rubble, and about a dozen were flooded by a dammed lake. Subsequently, most of the geysers resumed operation, and new outlets of hot springs formed. In September 2013, the flooded Skalisty and Artifact geysers began to gush again. In January 2014, a mudflow of clay, water and snow again transformed the Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka. The observation deck at the Shchel geyser was washed away by a stream of clay, water and snow. The operating hours of the largest geyser in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, the Giant, have temporarily changed.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti

As landslide statistics show, 80% of these phenomena are associated with human activity, and only 20% with natural phenomena.

Landslides

Rock falls can form on any inclined surface of the earth, regardless of the steepness of the slope. The occurrence of landslides is influenced by river floods, erosion of slopes, soil displacement from, road construction associated with soil excavation.

Landslide statistics highlight the main causes of their formation - natural and artificial. Natural ones are produced by natural phenomena, artificial ones by human activity.

Causes of rock destruction

To understand , How landslides are born, we should consider the causes of their occurrence, which are divided into three groups:

• violation of the shape of the slope a – can be caused by rain washouts, river floods, artificial excavation;
• change in rock structure, making up the slope. This is typically caused by groundwater dissolving the salt deposits that bound the rock. The texture of the soil becomes looser, which increases the risk of its destruction;
• increase in ground pressure. Soil vibrations, artificial loads of man-made objects, as well as groundwater pressure that entrains particles along the way.

The influence of rain is associated with physical destruction of the slope, increased soil looseness and increased pressure on the slope.

Systematization of types of landslides

There are different ways to classify a natural phenomenon. Landslides are divided by material: snow (avalanche) or stone. For example, there is a mountain landslide in the area. According to the mechanism of the ongoing process. A landslide caused by heavy rain develops into a mudslide, and the resulting mudslide rapidly moves down the river, destroying everything in its path. According to the mechanism of occurrence, the following types of geomorphological phenomena are distinguished:

1. Compression landslides. They are formed when the soil is deformed under vertical pressure, and compression of the layers occurs. The upper part of the massif sags and forms a deflection, in which a crack appears under the influence of the resulting stress. Part of the rock breaks off and begins to move. Typical for clay soil.
2. Shear landslides. Occur during the accumulation of shear stresses, are formed on steep slopes, the rock slides and slides along the surface. Sometimes such phenomena are formed at the boundary of rocks, then significant massifs can “slide”, often the soil layer slides (slide).
3. Liquefaction landslides associated with the impact of groundwater. They occur in rocks with a weakly cohesive structure under the influence of hydrodynamic and hydrostatic water pressure. Depends on groundwater levels and rainfall. The phenomenon is typical for clay and loamy soils, peat and soil structures.
4. Tensile landslides associated with detachment, spalling of a part of the massif under the action of tensile stresses. Rocky formations begin to collapse when the permissible stress is exceeded. Sometimes ruptures occur along tectonic cracks.

There is also a division of landslides according to the scale of the process occurring.

Landslides and mudflows

Landslides and avalanches, as well as landslides and mudflows, are very similar in their causes of origin. Collapses can form due to chemical reactions occurring in the rock when water leaches the rock and breaks down structural bonds, forming caves underground. At some point, soil falls into this cave, forming a sinkhole. Landslides are also associated with craters that are formed when rock falls.

Mudflow formation pattern - heavy rains wash solid particles into the river bed, which move downhill at high speed.

The most dangerous regions

For a landslide to occur, the presence of a slope with a slope of more than 1° is sufficient. On the planet, ¾ of the surface meets these conditions. As landslide statistics show, such phenomena most often occur in mountainous areas with steep slopes. And also in places where fast, full-flowing rivers with steep banks flow. The mountainous coastal shores of resort areas are prone to landslides, on the slopes of which a large number of hotel complexes have been built.

There are known areas of landslides in the North Caucasus. Dangers exist in the Urals and Eastern Siberia. There is a threat of landslides on the Kola Peninsula, on Sakhalin Island, and the Kuril Islands.

In Ukraine, the last landslides occurred in Chornomorsk in February 2017. This is not the first time, since the Black Sea coast regularly “gives” such surprises. In Odessa, old-timers remember cleanup days for planting trees in places where soil displacement occurs. The existing coastal development with high-rise buildings in the coastal zone is contrary to the norms and regulations for construction in landslide areas.

The Ingulets River is one of the largest and most picturesque rivers in Ukraine. It is very long, expands and contracts, and washes the rocks. The risk of rock falls on the Ingulets River arises from the following points:

• the city of Krivoy Rog, where the river flows in contact with rocks up to 28 meters high;
• the village of Snegirevka, where the natural monument “Nikolskoe Settlement of Snakes” is located downstream - an area with a very steep bank.

Modern realities

In April 2016, a landslide in Kyrgyzstan caused the death of a child. The occurrence of the collapse is associated with heavy rains that occurred in the foothill areas. There are 411 places in the country where there is a danger of landslides.

The clayey soil, almost 10 meters deep, retains moisture, which is well compensated by thick grass, which evaporates excess liquid. But the human factor - regular mowing and construction of roads between hills upsets this balance. As a result, frequent landslides destroy settlements and sometimes kill people.

The most tragic landslide in Kyrgyzstan occurred in 1994, when the number of victims reached 51 people. After this, the government decided to remove residents from dangerous areas. 1,373 families were asked to evacuate, plots were allocated for this purpose and loans were issued. However, having received land and material assistance, 1 thousand 193 families remained to live in their places.

Landslide statistics show that the entire right bank of the Volga is an area of ​​regular landslides. Heavy rains and rising ground river levels provoked a landslide in Ulyanovsk in April 2016. 100 meters of the roadway collapsed, the landslide almost reached the railway embankment.

In September, landslides and landslides occurred in the Crimea in the village of Nikolaevka. Two people died, about 10 were trapped under the rubble. The proximity of the Black Sea is a factor in the formation of landslides for this region. Most vacationers prefer “wild” holidays in places prohibited for swimming, where there is a high risk of soil melting. does not stop the landslide, they are located in dangerous areas, risking life and health.

The most destructive collapses on the planet

Landslides are not considered the most dangerous of natural phenomena. That's why people don't take them seriously enough. Statistics of landslides in the world:

This is far from complete statistics of landslides and their destructive effects in the world. The last collapses caused by heavy rains took place in Georgia in September 2016. Debris has formed on the road in Georgia. The Georgian Military Road was blocked.

Why are landslides dangerous?

At the first stage, the danger comes from collapsing masses of stones and soil. The damaging factors at the second stage are the destruction of roads and communications, damage. Landslides accompanied by downpours, blocking the river bed, can cause. A landslide introducing soil into the river provokes a mudflow, which can intensify the destruction process, increasing its speed. Housing destruction is another danger factor for people.

The disaster in Chechnya in 2016 damaged 45 houses and destroyed 22 buildings. 284 people were left homeless.

How to behave if there is a threat of a rock collapse

As the statistics of landslides show, most of them happen to people who ignore the rules of conduct during a landslide. They suggest the following actions in case of landslides:

• shutdown of electricity, gas and water;
• collection of valuables and documents;
• preparation for evacuation of households;
• closing all windows and doors;
• evacuation to a safe place.

It is important to obtain up-to-date information about the speed of the landslide and its direction. Rules of behavior in mountainous areas contribute to adequate actions in the event of danger. These include knowledge of the speed at which landslide displacement is recommended for evacuation. The time it takes to get ready depends on this.

The accumulated statistics of landslides recommends that when the rate of displacement of the mountain range exceeds 1 meter per day, evacuate to a safe place according to plan. If the traffic is slow (meters per month), you can travel according to your capabilities. In areas where landslides are common, the population knows the safest places in case of landslides. Usually this:

• high areas located on the opposite side of the flow;
• mountain valleys and crevices;
• large stones or powerful trees, behind which there is an opportunity to hide.

The warning system has made great progress over the past 5 years; modern forecasting and warning tools make it possible to minimize human losses.

Landslide prevention

The fight against landslides is aimed at preventing events and measures to reduce losses from them, including measures that reduce human influence on the formation of a landslide. To study the nature of landslides in a specific area, geotechnical surveys are carried out. Based on expert opinions, methods are being developed to reduce the risk factors for landslides. Work is carried out in two directions:

• a ban on human species that contribute to the formation of landslides (deforestation, excavation, weighting of soil by construction of buildings);
• carrying out protective engineering work, which includes: strengthening the banks, draining water, cutting off the active part of the landslide, reinforcing surfaces, retaining structures.

The devastating consequences of landslides can sometimes be prevented. Professor from Great Britain, D. Petley, calculated the number of victims from landslides around the world over the past 10 years. The main damaging factors of landslides claimed the lives of 89,177 people during this time.

Potentially, landslides in Russia can occur almost everywhere where there is even a slight slope, but in some regions they occur regularly, and in others they are unexpected. In 2015, two shifts occurred in Chuvashia, which came as a surprise to residents. Studies have shown that over the past 5 years there has been a significant shift in soil in areas of elite development. To prevent collapses, studies and a number of protective works to strengthen the slopes were carried out.

Employees of the American aerospace agency NASA have made the DRIP-SLIP software package freely available, which makes it possible to monitor landslides around the world. The system scans satellite images and determines where a disaster could occur in the near future. /website/

The system is a collection of location maps updated every 24, 48 or 72 hours. This allows you to monitor the situation in real time. The capabilities of the complex are demonstrated using the example of a map of landslides that were recorded from 2007 to 2013.

“We are interested in quickly and accurately identifying unreported landslides to better understand the nature of their occurrence. This information will make it possible to clarify maps that depict the regions most prone to landslides and take measures to prevent them,” NASA experts noted.

Landslides often go unnoticed and unreported, resulting in a large number of casualties. “We know that a large number of landslides occur during this period of time in Nepal. Documenting them is very important to better understand why these events occur and what impact they have,” experts say.

Risk area - Nepal

Scientists pay special attention to Nepal, since landslides in this country are a very pressing problem. Landslides occur here during the monsoon season and lead to the death of dozens and sometimes hundreds of people. One of the most destructive landslides occurred in this country last year after a strong earthquake.

Due to the vibrations of the earth's crust, mountain slopes collapsed and avalanches of mud rushed from the slopes of mountains and hills. The largest landslide occurred in the Miagdi region, about 140 kilometers from Nepal's capital Kathmandu. Landslides also occurred in other regions. People who survived the devastating earthquake died under layers of sliding earth.

Landslide record holder

Landslides occur quite frequently around the world. The largest landslide in modern history occurred on February 18, 1911 in the Pamirs in Tajikistan. After a strong earthquake, 2.2 billion cubic meters of loose material slid from the Muzkol ridge from a height of 5 thousand meters. The force of the impact of the collapsed mass caused a seismic wave that circled the entire globe several times.

The landslide covered the village of Usoy with all its residents, property and livestock, resulting in the death of 54 people. In addition, the descending mass blocked the Mugrab River, which is why Lake Sarez, 4–5 kilometers wide, was formed. Over time, the lake grew, flooding the villages of Sarez, Nisor-Dasht and Irkht. Currently, the lake still exists, its length and width are already 75 kilometers.

The lake still poses a danger to nearby settlements. This area is located in a seismically active zone, and weak tremors can trigger a breakthrough of Lake Sarez. In the event of a tragedy, a huge mass of water will flow like a mudflow almost to the Aral Sea. About 6 million people live in the potentially dangerous zone.

The most destructive landslide

The most tragic in terms of the number of victims was a landslide that occurred in the Chinese province of Gansu in 1920. Most of the territory of this province is occupied by a loess plateau, which is a homogeneous soil mixed with lime, clay and sand. The soil here is fertile, so the area was densely populated. After the earthquake, the cohesion of the loess was disrupted, and the earthen mass rolled down in entire hills. She destroyed everything within a radius of 50 thousand square kilometers.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that everything happened on a winter night, when all the people were in their houses. “The shocks followed one after another with an interval of several seconds and merged with the deafening roar of collapsing houses, the screams of people and the roar of animals that came from under the rubble of buildings,” recalled the miraculously surviving missionary.

One of the houses, moved by a mass of rocks, was moved almost a kilometer. However, the house remained undamaged. The man and child who were there were also not injured. Because of the darkness and noise, they did not even understand what had happened. Along with the house, the section of the road also moved. Now this place is called “Death Valley”. More than 200 thousand people are buried there.

Landslides in Russia

Scientists consider landslides to be the most dangerous natural disaster. The danger is that they can occur absolutely anywhere where there is a slope. Landslides are not related to geographic location and can occur in any country, including Russia. Most often, residents of the North Caucasus, Volga region, Primorye, Eastern Siberia and the Urals have to deal with this natural phenomenon.

For example, in 2006, heavy snowfalls and continuous rains in the mountains caused severe landslides in Chechnya. The upper layers of rocks up to two meters thick rolled down the slopes, burying residential buildings in the villages of Shuani, Benoi, Zandak and others. In the village of Shuani alone, a landslide destroyed about 60 houses in one day. Residents left their homes, taking with them only documents.

The Russian Black Sea coast is also a risk zone. Mountain slopes built up with many infrastructure facilities create favorable conditions for landslides. The danger especially increases in the autumn-winter period, when the mountain slopes are washed away by rain. Active human activity, including construction and impact on the landscape, is also an additional risk factor.

The largest known landslide is located in the Heart Mountains in Wyoming (USA). It covers an area of ​​two thousand square kilometers and, judging by the remaining traces, in some places it spread at a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour. This catastrophe happened in the very distant past - about thirty million years ago.

In Europe, the first place belongs to the Flim landslide, which occurred in the Alps. Scientists suggest that it occurred before the Ice Age and before the appearance of humans here (about a million years ago).

Twelve cubic kilometers of loose material moved into the Rhine River valley. This happened on the territory of what is now Switzerland near the city of Chur - where the village of Flim (canton of Grisons) is now located. The landslide fell into the Rhine, and the river valley was buried to a height of about six hundred meters. At first a lake two hundred meters deep formed, but it did not last long. The Rhine found another way, and the lake was drained.

And the largest landslide of historical time is considered to be the event that occurred on February 18, 1911 in the Pamirs. The landslide was caused by a strong earthquake, after which a fantastic amount of loose material—2.2 billion cubic meters—slipped from the slopes of the Muzkol ridge, from a height of five thousand meters above sea level. The village of Usoy with all its inhabitants, their property and livestock was overwhelmed. Rock formations blocked the valley of the Mugrab River. A huge dam with a diameter of four to five kilometers and a height of more than seven hundred meters stopped the flow of the river for four years. A new lake in the Pamirs appeared - Sarez, which began to grow rapidly and in turn flooded the villages of Sarez, Nisor-Dasht and Irkht.

In 1913, the length of Lake Sarez reached 28 kilometers, and its depth was almost 130 meters. Then the waters of Mugrab made their way through the stone blockage, but the lake still continued to grow. Today its length is already 75 kilometers, and its depth is about five hundred meters.

The force of the impact of the mass of earth and stones falling from a great height was so great that it generated a powerful seismic wave. It was recorded by seismic stations around the world as it circled the globe several times.

The mystery of the Usoi landslide is its exceptionally large size. Until now, scientists cannot say for sure whether there has ever been a similar landslide on the globe (in historical times). Traces of a more gigantic one have not yet been found.

The roar of collapsing rocks (some scientists attribute this landslide to landslides) was heard by residents of Tajik villages located twenty kilometers from the village of Usoy. People called this place “Death Valley” and walked around it for a long time.

And the most tragic in terms of the number of victims was a landslide that occurred in the Chinese province of Gansu in 1920. Most of the territory of this province is occupied by a loess plateau, which suffered a terrible earthquake. Not only the strength of the earthquake, but also the specific soil conditions of Central China played a fatal role here. The affected area was in the center of the “land of loess” - fertile dust blown by winds from the Gobi Desert at the beginning of the Quaternary period. The fertility of the soil was the main reason that this area was densely populated.

Loess is very porous, but at the same time it has quite significant strength. Therefore, canyons and valleys with steep slopes are formed in loess areas. When the cohesion of the loess was disrupted by the earthquake, the slopes became unstable. Loess strata moved literally in entire hills. These hills buried tens of thousands of people who lived in caves dug in the loess. In one cave lived the Muslim prophet Ma the Blessed with his community of three hundred of his followers. They were cut off from the whole world and doomed to a slow and painful death. For a whole month afterwards, relatives and fellow believers of the victims dug up the loess cover that closed over their cave, but they could not find anything.

The tragedy was made even worse by the fact that it happened on a winter night. The ensuing darkness and cold forced almost the entire population to take refuge in their homes. At 7.30 pm a dull noise was heard from the north, “as if huge, heavily loaded vehicles were rushing at breakneck speed along the bad pavement.”

One missionary, who miraculously survived, later said:

“When I heard the noise, I thought it was an earthquake and ran outside. But as soon as I found myself on the street, I felt as if something had hit me in the back with terrible force.

With my legs spread wide, like a drunkard trying to stay on his feet, I felt a strong rotational movement of the earth beneath me...

This first and longest shock lasted two minutes. He was followed by five or six others, and so quickly that it was almost impossible to separate them from one another...

The shocks followed one after another with an interval of several seconds and merged with the deafening roar of collapsing houses, the screams of people and the roar of animals that came from under the rubble of buildings.”

The resulting landslides reached enormous proportions. The seven most gigantic of them cut off the slopes of the mountains, and thousands of cubic meters of loess filled up the valleys and covered cities and villages. One of the houses, captured by loess, was carried on a moving mass of rocks and simply miraculously remained on the surface. There was a man and a child in this house, but in the pitch darkness and deafening noise they didn’t even really understand what had happened. In the morning, a truly apocalyptic picture opened before them - “the mountains moved,” and they did not even recognize their native places.

The section of road that moved along with their house (about four hundred meters long) moved down one and a half kilometers. Having stopped, it subsequently almost retained its former appearance, and the tall poplars on both sides of the road continued, as before, to sway their branches. The house made a path of almost one kilometer, and then two other landslides caused the avalanche to change direction.

This place is also called “Death Valley” because 200,000 people were buried here.

In our country, landslides occur very often in the Nizhny Novgorod region. This was even reported in ancient chronicles. For example, in the 15th century, a landslide descended from Gremyachaya Mountain, which destroyed a large settlement. This is how this event is recorded in the chronicle: “And by God’s will, sin for our sakes, the mountain crawled from above the settlement, and one hundred and fifty households with people and all kinds of livestock fell asleep in the settlement.”

A large landslide also occurred on the night of June 17, 1839, near the village of Fedorovka on the left bank of the Volga between Saratov and Ulyanovsk. The earth moved underfoot, houses cracked and shook, and there was noise and roar in the air.

Nobody understood what happened. People did not know where to run and how to save their lives. Women and children screamed and cried loudly. Dawn came, but it did not bring peace - everything around remained the same, and the earth even began to shake even more. In places it swelled, and in place of lowlands, hills grew, and in place of hills, gaps and cracks gaped.

The vibrations of the earth's surface (sometimes strong, sometimes weak) lasted for three whole days. And all this time the population was in constant anxiety and excitement. And when everything calmed down, it turned out (to the great amazement of the residents!) that the village of Fedorovka had “moved” closer to the Volga by several tens of meters.