The small town of Brienz in eastern Switzerland was evacuated this Friday night after authorities ordered a full evacuation amid the imminent danger of death. collapse of a nearby mountain. Experts estimate that a rock mass of two million cubic meters from this mountain could collapse and bury the town in 7 to 24 days.
The mountainous regions of Switzerland are particularly vulnerable. global warming. As the snow at the top of the mountains melts, the rocks below become more unstable. In reality, this mountain has always presented a certain amount of geological instability, but in recent weeks there has been “strong acceleration over a large area” of the mountain.
The town of Brienz, with only 100 inhabitants and located in the eastern region of Graubunden, is slipping a few centimeters every year due to this situation, but This movement has accelerated in the last 20 years.. Now the landslide reaches one meter each year and the situation is getting more and more unsafe.
Experts believe that the landslide is most likely to occur when loose rocks fall that may not even reach the town. Anyway, “We cannot rule out the possibility of the rock collapsing. “It can damage or destroy the town,” said Christian Gartmann, a member of the town’s crisis board.
Albula and Brienz parish priest Federico Pelico said residents have become accustomed to hearing thunder from falling rocks regularly in recent years. “But now they suddenly realized that something terrible could happen,” he told the AP agency.
“As many as two million cubic meters of rock material will collapse or slide over the next seven to 24 days”officials say.
Access roads have been sealed with warning signs about the risk of imminent collapse, while geologists and other experts take measures to monitor evolution closely.
Experts evaluated the possibility of an explosion that would cause a controlled landslide. however, according to Gartmann, the operation looks very dangerous as it would require drilling under the rock, which is now risky. Another idea was to erect a large retaining wall out of rocks, but that didn’t seem feasible either because it would need to be at least 70 meters high to effectively protect the village.
The evacuees are staying at the homes of relatives or friends in the surrounding areas for now, but are expected to return temporarily when the risky situation is over.
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]