MASS WASTING: BUSAY LANDSLIDE

By: Camille Kate R. Librando

Landslides, also referred by the technical term “mass wasting”, is the movement of rock, earth, or debris, down a sloped section of land. Geologists, people who study the physical formations of Earth, describe this as one type of mass wasting. A mass wasting is any downward movement in which the Earth’s surface is worn away.

photo by Junjie Mendoza 

Last October 2017, a landslide occurred Sitio Grahe, Barangay Busay, Cebu City. A portion of a road that leads to popular tourist sites like Temple of Leah, Mountainview Resort, and Lantaw Restaurant, cracked resulting to this incident. Located at the portion near the highway, it was more or less 10 meters of the road that cracked in half.

“There’s another landslide. The road already cracked in half,” Busay Barangay Councilman Kevin Sanchez told Cebu Daily News.

Due to the incident, the roads were closed after barangay officials have observed that the soil in the are continues to move. Even motorcycles were not allowed to pass by the area for safety purposes. The Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) has also set engineers to assess the situation.

Like other landslides that happened, this incident was caused by heavy rainfall. But the rainfall that occurred did not cause any other incidents in other areas of Cebu City except in Barangay Busay. There was no much information that was set out about this but it tells us that the soil present in the area was much prone to landslides. The soil might be weak, fractured, or different layers may have different strengths and stiffness.

The management of popular tourist sites in the area are also working on constructing a riprap, a loose stone used to form a foundation for a breakwater or other structure, which could help prevent landslides occurring in the area. Aside from the expert’s way on giving a solution to the problem, I think the residents in the area should also take part of the action. They should be aware of the environmental status of their area and evacuate when already needed.

In my opinion, another solution can also be set out for this problem. This can also be done by the residents themselves. Another solution is plant vegetation where trees and small shrubs are planted on the slope. As these plants grow, their roots hold soil together and help reduce the erosion of soil which could prevent landslides from occurring. However, the type of soil in the area must be identified first in order to see if it is suitable for vegetation.








References:

Introduction to Mass Wasting. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://web.csulb.edu/depts/geology/facultypages/bperry/Mass%20Wasting/Introduction_to_Mass_Wasting.htm

Landslide. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/landslide/

Bunachita, Jose Santino.( 2017). Another landslide hits Busay. Retrieved from https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/149248/another-landslide-hits-busay