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Slope movements induced by rainfalls damaging an urban area: the Catanzaro case study (Calabria, southern Italy)

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Abstract

Calabria is one of the Italian regions mostly affected by mass movements. The case study of a densely populated neighborhood (Ianò) located in the central-western sector of Calabria is presented. The several landslides triggered in February 2010 caused heavy damages to the built area, infrastructures and productions of this neighborhood, and increased the risk for the inhabitants. The results obtained through field surveys, photo interpretation, analyses of rainfall data and of the urban fabric evolution, historical survey on the reports of the damages caused by landslides, have enabled to formulate hypotheses on the potential causes that triggered landslide events and produced severe consequences on the area. These results have revealed that almost all landslides of February 2010 are partial reactivations of pre-existing landslide deposits. Moreover, the analyses have indicated a critical role of cumulative rainfalls over an interval of 15 days. However, the severe damage framework is explained through an unplanned urbanization which took place across the years on an area characterized by a high level of instability per se. Some buildings have been erected in proximity of or within pre-existing landslide scarps; in other cases, buildings have been constructed even inside the landslide bodies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out under the Commessa TA.P05.012 "Tipizzazione di eventi naturali e antropici ad elevato impatto sociale ed economico" of the CNR — Department "Scienze del sistema Terra e Tecnologie per l'Ambiente". Data and information used have been collected within the framework of the activities carried out for the action "Regione Calabria – Supporto tecnico-scientifico al Commissario delegato O.P.C.M. no. 3862/2010".

The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewer for the precious remarks and comments which led to improve the initial version of this manuscript.

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  1. Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, National Research Council of Italy, Via Cavour n. 4/6, 87030, Rende, CS, Italy

    L. Antronico, L. Borrelli, R. Coscarelli, A. A. Pasqua, O. Petrucci & G. Gullà

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  1. L. Antronico
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  2. L. Borrelli
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  3. R. Coscarelli
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  4. A. A. Pasqua
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  5. O. Petrucci
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  6. G. Gullà
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Correspondence to R. Coscarelli.

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Antronico, L., Borrelli, L., Coscarelli, R. et al. Slope movements induced by rainfalls damaging an urban area: the Catanzaro case study (Calabria, southern Italy). Landslides 10, 801–814 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-013-0431-3

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