Observations from the large, rapid Yigong rock slide – debris avalanche, southeast Tibet

Abstract

The Yigong rock slide – debris avalanche (YRA), which occurred on 9 April 2000, received worldwide attention as one of the largest nonseismic landslides in recent years, with a volume of 0.3 × 109 m3. Sixty-two days after this landslide event, a catastrophic flood happened because of landslide dam failure. One of the special features of this debris avalanche is liquefaction, which plays an important role in the entrainment and long run-out distance and high-speed movement of the debris avalanche. Numerous sand boils were found in the deposition zone, providing strong evidence for liquefaction. The YRA provides the first actual evidence for a theoretical model where the mechanisms of excess pore pressure and liquefaction induced by undrained loading, and entrainment and dissipation control the run out and deposition of the debris avalanche. The damage mode to trees and the presence of debris cones or molards with a rounded top is proven to be the result of strong air waves and eddies. These features all imply that the YRA is a solid–liquid–air mixed-debris avalanche.