The 17 February 2006 Guinsaugon rock slide-debris avalanche, Southern Leyte, Philippines: deposit characteristics and failure mechanism

Abstract

The Guinsaugon rock slide-debris avalanche was the most catastrophic single landslide event in Philippine history, with 14–18 M m3 of debris instantly burying an entire village. Hummocky topography, pressure ridges and other internal structures suggest that the landslide deposit was emplaced as a debris avalanche and debris flow. Susceptibility to planar and wedge failures as well as to toppling due to rock discontinuities were demonstrated using kinematic analysis and SMR. Limit equilibrium analysis on planar failures yielded factors of safety ranging from 0.8 to 1.5. The study showed that pore pressure on discontinuities had a more significant effect on the slope stability than seismicity. For wedge failures, there is a sudden drop in the factor of safety at pore water pressures of 258–306 kPa. At the site, the pore water pressure may have been as high as 490 kPa. The possibility of such a landslide event in the future is discussed.