Thursday, May 11, 2023

A Swiss Village Is Warned to Flee Its Shifting Mountainside

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Scientist say a rockslide could be imminent, but they can’t predict exactly what it will look like and whether the village of Brienz will survive.

The threat of the mountain above the tiny Swiss village of Brienz has loomed for centuries.

But state geologists and engineers warned on Tuesday that parts of the mountain were dangerously close to collapse. And the roughly 85 people who live in Brienz and in the path of a possible landslide or mountain collapse were told to evacuate by Friday night.

Geological engineers starting monitoring the situation on the mountain closely in 2017. In recent weeks, they have seen movement accelerate in the more than 70 million cubic feet of dirt and rocks that make up the parts of the mountain that could fall. » | Christopher F. Schuetze | Wednesday, May 10, 2023