{
  "id": 7264915,
  "title": "Understanding Landslides Through Case Studies",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/understanding-landslides-through-case-studies",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-14T07:01:07.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Eos",
    "slug": "eos",
    "url": "https://eos.org/thelandslideblog/understanding-landslides-through-case-studies"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Understanding Landslides Through Case Studies is a new book authored by Serge Leroueil and Luciano Picarelli. This book aims to compile contemporary knowledge on slope movements and mechanisms, focusing on the experiences of geotechnical engineering and geology experts. The book is particularly suitable for graduate students, researchers, and professionals in the field.\n\nThe book is divided into two parts. The first part summarizes the current understanding of landslides, ranging from pre-failure to post-failure stages, including landslide reactivation and active slope movements. The second part is a collection of 28 case studies written by experts from around the world, illustrating specific situations and providing a reference for readers.\n\nThe first part of the book consists of six chapters that provide a comprehensive overview of slope movements. Chapter 1 delves into slope formation from a geotechnical perspective, discussing the formation and evolution of slopes in various geological and climatic contexts. Chapter 2 explores slope movements, examining the mechanical aspects of slope failure from pre-failure to post-failure stages and describing the modes and evolution of landslides. The updated version of the Varnes classification is used to describe landslide evolution and mechanics.\n\nChapter 3 focuses on the behavior and properties of soils in the context of slopes, discussing hydraulic and mechanical properties of both saturated and unsaturated soils. Key parameters that govern soil behavior, such as time, temperature, fluid chemistry, and gas presence, are also examined in detail.\n\nChapter 4 investigates slope movements induced by changes in boundary stress conditions, including the effects of rapid drawdown, storm waves, blasting, and pile driving. Chapter 5 examines the impact of changes in hydraulic or physico-thermo-chemical conditions, such as infiltration, evapo-transpiration, soil deterioration, thermal effects, and the presence of gas, free, dissolved, or in the form of hydrate.\n\nThe final two chapters in the first part of the book focus on macroscopic landslide mechanisms and types of movement, affecting landslide analysis. Special movements like flowslides in sensitive clays and earthflows are also described in these chapters.\n\nThe second part of the book presents a collection of 28 case studies from around the world. These case studies, divided into six chapters, follow the same rationale as the book. Each chapter presents a specific case study, illustrating the mechanisms described in the first part and providing a comprehensive overview of situations whose knowledge may be valuable for readers.",
  "summary": "A guest post by Serge Leroueil and Luciano Picarelli A new book, Understanding Landslides Through Case Studies by Serge Leroueil and Luciano Picarelli seeks to report and summarise contemporary knowledge on slope movements and mechanisms. As is well-known on this Blog, landslides are a major natural hazard in many countries of the world. The annual […]",
  "key_points": [
    "\"Understanding Landslides Through Case Studies\" by Serge Leroueil and Luciano Picarelli",
    "Two-part book covers landslide mechanisms and 28 global case studies",
    "First part summarizes slope formation, movement, and classification"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}