Brienz was last evacuated in May 2023, when up to 2 million cubic metres of rock threatened to topple from the mountainside above the village.
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The landslide in the upper part of the scree slope above Brienz in eastern Switzerland has accelerated sharply. The municipality of Albula has announced that up to 1.2 million cubic metres of rock could move towards the village. The municipality is preparing a preventive evacuation.
If the moving rock mass reaches high velocity, it could slide past the existing alluvial fan and reach the village. In the interests of safety, the municipality has decided to move to the “yellow phase”. The timing of the evacuation, however, has not yet been determined, authorities said on Saturday.
Measurements by the early warning service have shown that the upper part of the scree has been moving at a rate of sometimes more than 30cm a day since the second half of September.
The situation is expected to calm down, but a rockslide cannot be ruled out, authorities said. It could be triggered by further precipitation, by a rock fall from the top of the scree or by the speed of the slide.
The municipality will brief the population on Saturday evening. Experts in geology and natural hazards, as well as officials from canton Graubünden, will be present.
Huge debris flow in 2023
Brienz was last evacuated in May 2023, when up to 2 million cubic metres of rock threatened to topple from the mountainside above the village.
On the night of June 16, 2023, 1.2 million cubic metres of rock broke away in a huge flow, which stopped just short of the village. At the beginning of July 2023, Brienz residents were able to return to their homes.
In mid-March 2024, a few thousand cubic metres of rock again broke loose above the municipality. The village was spared.
As the plateau, a 5-million m3 stratum of land above the village, slid towards the valley at a rate of 4.3 metres per year, new cracks formed. Parts of the wall have broken away.
In May 2024, heavy rainfall led to an increase in boulder and rock falls from the landslide. But the village was spared.
Translated from French with DeepL/gw
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