Guinsaugon
Solutions
Sources:
- http://blog.noah.dost.gov.ph/2006/02
/17/guinsaugon-landslide-2006-in-
southern-leyte/
- http://www.rappler.com/move-
ph/issues/disasters/84026-2006-
guinsaugon-landslide-lessons
- http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int
/files/resources/26098_26098recovery
statusreportleytemarch.pdf
- https://www.researchgate.net/publicati
on/26450975_The_disastrous_17_Febr
uary_2006_rockslide-
debris_avalanche_on_Leyte_Island_Phi
lippines_A_catastrophic_landslide_in_t
ropical_mountain_terrain
- http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006A
GUFM.T13D0539
- http://www.preventionweb.net/files/s
ection/230_Philippinesstbernardcasest
udy.pdf
- https://getrevising.co.uk/resources/so
uthern_leyte_2006_landslide_case_stud
y
- http://reliefweb.int/report/philippines
/emergency-report-philippines-
landslide-0
Landslide
Global warming and deforestation are the
primary causes to extreme weather, which
contributed to most of the natural disaster
including landslides. The Philippines had its
forest cover reduced from a few million hectares
to 600,000 hectares three decades ago. I would
recommend the local government to take
measures to plant more trees to increase the
stability of a slope and educate people to be
environmental friendly to make the world a safe
and better place for us to live on in the longer
run. We all have the responsibility to protect the
earth to make it sustain longer
Valerie Ho Y7 Respect
17 February, 2006
Location: Guinsaugon, located at 10 21' 03" N and 125
06' 33" E, is one of the 16 villages of St. Bernard
Municipal in Southern Leyte Province, Eastern Visayas
Region, The Philippines.
A rockslide-debris avalanche had devastated the Guinsaugon
community, the second largest village of St Bernard Town,
located in a valley at the footslope of Mount Canabag. Before
the landslide, it was a community of 1,857 people with
schools and farmland. The deadly landslide followed a 10-
day period of heavy rainfall and a mild 2.6 magnitude
earthquake that occurred 21 kilometers away. A state of
crisis was declared by the provincial disaster coordinating
council as early as 10 February 2006 due to the bad weather and
the resultant claim of seven lives in another
municipal. Guinsaugon residents along with other 25
villages of 6 municipals were evacuated. However, they
returned to their homes on 16 February 2006 after seeing
signs of better weather, just before the tragedy happened.
The old tension cracks, scars, and cat-like scratches on the
surface of the mountain indicate that there had been major
landslides before the inhabitant of people in the area.
Causes
This disastrous landslide was caused by extreme
weather in combination with earthquake, and it
happened in an area that was vulnerable to
landslides.
This photo shows the relative positions of the
Philippine Fault and the town of Guinsaugon.
- Torrential rain up to over 2000 milliliters in 10 days,
loosened the soil so much that the resulting mud and
rocks thundered down the slopes of nearby Mount
Canabag, virtually breaking it apart.
- The mild 2.6 magnitude earthquake in Southern Leyte
just prior to the landslide though not strong enough
alone might have caused movement and loosen of
cohesion of the soil.
- Guinsaugon is located at the foot of the steep fault
scarp of the Philippine Fault Zone, a large and active
tectonic structure that traverses the entire length of the
Philippines, directly in the path of the downward
moving mass of the earth. Rocks in the mountains were
shattered when the Philippine fault system sliced
through them, making it vulnerable to landslides.
- The excessive rainfall was a consequence of effect of
La Nina event occurred from autumn 2005 to spring
2006.
Impacts
The landslide had a platform area of 3,324,400
million square meters, a maximum width of 1.52
kilometers, and a distance of 4.1 kilometers from
crown to toe. The avalanche was estimated to have
traveled at a velocity of 100 kilometers per hour and
carried about15 million cubic meters of mud to have
covered 442 hectares of the village. There was a total
1041 casualties including over 200 students. Roads
were blocked and power lines were brought down.
Guinsaugon was one of the more densely populated
communities and the fourth-highest earning village in
the town, derived from production of coconut, abaca
and rice. The estimated economic damage was
mainly to agriculture amounting to PHP 22.6 million
(US$436,000).
Rescuing people from the mud.
Response and
Recovery
Authorities and responders from the military came
in almost immediately. International rescue groups
including the US military also joined in the rescue
effort. They tried to dig out victims using crowbars
and their bare hands. Dead bodies were placed in
the adjacent village for identification and were
buried if not being identified. The relief efforts
were obstructed by heavy rain, mud that went up to
the chest, roads blocked by boulders, washed-out
bridges, and lack of heavy equipment that was
declared aborted on 24 February 2006. Because of
the fear that a similar landslide might occur in
nearby villages, residents of 11 barangays were
evacuated by February 19 with an estimated ten
thousand people seeking temporary refuge in
various evacuation centers. And because of this
incident, St. Bernard nourished its existing
Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council and the
town has gradually taken measures towards building
its resilience. Notably, the local government unit
has ensured that disaster risk reduction and climate
change adaptation programs, training and activities
are incorporated in its development planning and
budgeting.