Context
A study published in Landslides found that the 2024 Wayanad disaster resulted from an interplay of extreme monsoon rainfall and pre-existing geological weaknesses. Rainfall triggered the slope failure, while geology and geomorphology controlled its location, movement and destructive intensity.
Explanation
- A landslide is the downslope movement of rock, soil or debris under gravity when driving forces exceed the slope’s resisting strength.
- Wayanad, Kerala, lies in the Western Ghats, characterised by steep slopes, deeply weathered rocks and heavy southwest monsoon rainfall.
- Ancient crystalline rocks in the region contain fractures, shear zones and foliations, which act as natural planes of weakness.
- Rainwater entering fractures promotes chemical weathering, converting hard rocks into weaker weathered material.
- Prolonged or intense rainfall causes soil saturation, raises pore-water pressure and reduces shear strength, triggering slope failure.
- Hence, rainfall may be the immediate trigger, while lithology, slope, structural geology, geomorphology and weathering determine landslide susceptibility.
- Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ) maps areas according to their relative susceptibility to landslides.
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Wayanad Landslide: Rainfall and Geological Vulnerability