Why does heavy rain cause landslides

However, there is one potential exception. Some tsunamis are triggered by landslides. Heavy rain can cause landslides in some areas. No, heavy rain does not usually occur until the mature stage. Flash flooding can occur in the desert after a heavy rain. A period of heavy rain can drop rain on an area faster than drainage systems and streams can carry it away.

It can. This is because monsoons usually bring very heavy rains to a region. When heavy rain falls on unstable soil on a slope, the result can be a landslide or mudslide. Not directly. Heavy rain can lead to landslides which, if they hit water, can sometimes cause tsunamis. Most tsunamis, however, are caused by earthquakes. Log in. See Answer. Best Answer. Study guides. Q: Why do landslides occur after a heavy rain?

Write your answer Related questions. Do cliffs land slide after rain? When do landslides occur? What time of year do landslides occur? When do landslides generally occur? How often do landslides occur? What time of the year do landslides occur?

What agent of erosion causes landslides and mudflows? Why are landslides frequent in the Shivalik Range? But what pulls the trigger to set a slide in motion? Land surfaces are held together by multiple forces. The most important of these is friction. Some soil particles, like clay, cling to each other tightly, while others, like sand, are only loosely joined. All landscapes are held together by friction between the sediment cover and the underlying bedrock, some more tightly than others.

If something is introduced to disrupt the friction on an incline, a landslide slips into action. Landslides occur when gravity overcomes the force of friction. Did you know that landslides can even occur underwater? Such underwater landslides are known as submarine landslides and can trigger monster tidal waves that wreck coastal regions.

Scientists suspect that earthquakes precede many underwater landslides, which then produce the colossal waves known as tsunamis. An earthquake is suspected of causing a submarine landslide in that triggered a tsunami that obliterated villages and killed over people in Papua, New Guinea [source: Davies et al ]. Sign up for our Newsletter!

Mobile Newsletter banner close. In a landslide, masses of rock, earth or debris move down a slope. The impact of a landslide can be extensive, including loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, damage to land and loss of natural resources. Landslide material can also block rivers and increase the risk of floods.

Landslides cause property damage, injury, and death and adversely affect a variety of resources. For example, water supplies, fisheries, sewage disposal systems, forests, dams, and roadways can be affected for years after a slide event. Water availability, quantity, and quality can be affected by landslides. Landslide dams can be extremely dangerous because they are usually highly unstable. Landslides include a wide range of phenomena involving downslope ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep slope failure, shallow debris flows, and avalanches.

Gravity acting on a slope is the primary cause of landslides, but there are other important and dynamic factors that serve as triggers. The main driving force in most land movements is gravity.