Is The Sudden Landslide In Zhenxiong, Yunnan A Natural or Man-made Disaster?

On the morning of January 22 this year, a sudden landslide occurred in Liangshui Village, Tangfang Town, Xiong County, Zhaotong Town, Yunnan Province, resulting in 18 houses being buried and 44 people missing. After the disaster, search and rescue work was immediately carried out, and the Kunming Fire Rescue Brigade in Yunnan Province quickly joined in. The rescue personnel went all out. The people of Liangshui Village also spontaneously provided free food and water for the rescue people. As of 20:4 on the 25th, all missing individuals have been searched and rescued, and there are no vital signs. The author shed tears, feeling pain and regret for the victims, while also expressing deep and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.

What is the reason behind this sudden landslide? Experts have conducted on-site investigations and preliminarily analyzed the reasons for the collapse: the steep terrain and landforms provided conditions for the occurrence of landslides; Layered fragmented rock mass is the main internal and objective factor for collapse occurrence; The continuous infiltration of precipitation in the early stage softens the weak surface inside the rock, and coupled with the accumulation of groundwater caused by rain and snow before the collapse, it reaches its critical point, which in turn triggers the occurrence of collapse. This seems to be saying that the landslide was completely caused by natural factors and there was no human interference. But is it really that simple?

According to reports, people in Zhaotong discovered that the mountain had cracked several days before the landslide occurred, which is suspected to be related to coal mining near the mountain. It can be said that this landslide may be related to human factors such as coal mining. In fact, as early as December 28th last year, villagers in Zhaotong released a video claiming that a certain mountain had obvious cracks - which is also suspected to be related to coal mining. On January 5th, the villager released a similar video again. In fact, many other mountains in Zhaotong have shown signs of cracking. Through this information, we can find that coal mining causes frequent mountain cracking in Yunnan. A villager requested the management department to investigate those coal mining enterprises, but after investigation, the management department claimed that these enterprises had not carried out any blasting operations. But this has not reassured the public. In fact, a similar incident occurred 11 years ago, and it can be said that the people of Yunnan have always resisted coal mining and believed it to be the root cause of the disaster.

But the author cannot draw hasty conclusions either. Many details of the event have not yet been disclosed, and it is not yet clear whether there is a causal relationship between coal mining and landslides. It is also difficult to determine whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster. I hope readers can actively discuss and express their thoughts in the comments below.

 

Original article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yWwdpBzffGMRueJnWDrqoA

Translator: Moretti

Checked by Richard

Editor: Moretti

Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

 

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