A Study on the Contributing Factors of Major Landslides in Malaysia

Abstract

Landslide is one of the most prominent geo-hazard that accounts for colossal losses every year. The contributing factors of landslides in Malaysia are reasonably different from rest of the world. According to a study, the most dominant factor that catalysis the slope failure in many countries of the world is geological conditions. However, in case of Malaysia; most of the landslides occur as a consequence of flawed design, improper construction and non-maintenance of slopes which correlates with the human errors. The statistics of Malaysia shows that highest number of landslides took place in 1996 with 71 cases which is followed by 68 cases in 1995. According to the findings of Highland Towers (1993) landslide, the main causes of failure were inaccuracies in design, poor supervision during the construction and inadequate drainage system. Similarly, in case of Taman Hillview and Bukit Antarabangsa landslide, it has been revealed that improper design practices and poor drainage system supplemented with prolonged rain were the significant causes of the cataclysm. Therefore, based on the investigations on retrospective landslides, this study proposes to incorporate Human Reliability Assessment technique as a part of working strategy for slopes along with strong adherence to the design guidelines in order to minimize the likelihood of landslides.

Procedural Effects of Environment Impact Assessment on Controlling Natural Disaster (Landslides and Flashflood) Based on Environmental Degradation from Development in Malaysia

“…The occurrence of many landslides and flash floods due to environmental degradation has tragic consequences. For example, many landslides have been recorded in Cameron Highlands since a century and a half ago due to land clearing and development since 1919 [21] and 1961 [20]. Elsewhere in the country, many developments have been constructed on hilly areas with multiple ranges of slopes; the steeper the hill is, the higher the risk of soil movement and slope failures.…”

Introductory Chapter: Importance of Investigating Landslide Hazards

“…The morphological causes, such as volcanic pressure, underground erosion, climate factors, vegetation elimination, crest accumulation. Human activities, such as excavation, irrigation, mining, deforestation, and slope encroachment, also enhance slope instability [21,22]).…”

“…Kazmi et al [21] investigated 11 landslide events in Malaysia and summarized water movements, weak safety management, heavy downpours, inadequate slope protection, damaged drainage, flawed design, and construction were some of the underlying factors that triggered landslides. Singh and Singh [23] found urbanization as a contributing factor for the risk of landslides and hazards.…”

Estimation of TRMM rainfall for landslide occurrences based on rainfall threshold analysis

“…Relationships between rainfall and landslides are frequently complex due to inconsistent and incomplete landslide records, and the availability of rainfall data [4]. In Malaysia, the comparison of landslide triggering factor shows rainfall has a major contribution to the event, which is about 58% with an average of 2550 mm of rainfall per year [5]. Currently, the prediction of landslide triggered by rainfall is based on examining the empirical relationship between rainfall characteristics and past landslide occurrence [6].…”