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Large block slide at San Juan Grijalva, Northwest Chiapas, Mexico

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Abstract

On November 4, 2007, a large block slide occurred on the south face of the Cerro La Pera at San Juan Grijalva (SJG), northwest Chiapas, Mexico. The SJG landslide has an area of 1.11 km2 and a volume of 50 Mm3, making it one of the largest landslide of its type in the twentieth century. The landslide created a dam over 80 m high and 1,170 m wide across the Grijalva River, backing up the water and forming a 49 km2 lake. Landslide-generated tsunamis up to 15 m high destroyed the village of SJG, and the newly formed lake flooded 21 villages located upstream. The landslide killed 16 people and caused around 3,600 to be evacuated with incalculable economic losses. It was perhaps the most catastrophic landslide in the history of Mexico. The probable trigger of the landslide was cumulative precipitation of about 67% of the average annual rainfall over the preceding 30 days. The associated potentially causative factors include a M4.5 earthquake that occurred 5 days before the landslide and a water-level drawdown at the Grijalva River generated by the release of water from the Peñitas dam located 14 km downstream.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Comision Federal de Electricidad for providing favorable conditions during fieldwork and Luis Manuel Garcia Moreno, Subsecretario de Protección Civil of the state of Chiapas, for the logistic support and materials given to us. Thanks to Programa de Mejoramiento del Profesorado (PROMEP), project UMSNH-PTC-212, and projects CONACYT 48506-F and PAPIT IN 103909-3. Thanks to Mr. Hancox and Dr. Havenith (reviewers), and Mauri McSaveney (editor) for the helpful comments and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geología y Mineralogía, Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Planta Alta, Edificio “U2”, C. U., Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Víctor Manuel Hernández-Madrigal & Víctor Hugo Garduño-Monroy

  2. Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Juan Carlos Mora-Chaparro

Authors
  1. Víctor Manuel Hernández-Madrigal
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  2. Juan Carlos Mora-Chaparro
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  3. Víctor Hugo Garduño-Monroy
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Correspondence to Víctor Manuel Hernández-Madrigal.

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Hernández-Madrigal, V.M., Mora-Chaparro, J.C. & Garduño-Monroy, V.H. Large block slide at San Juan Grijalva, Northwest Chiapas, Mexico. Landslides 8, 109–115 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-010-0212-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-010-0212-1

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