The Associated Press (AP) reports that about 2 million cubic meters of rock on the upper alpine slope may collapse soon.
When geologists and other experts in fluorescent jackets took measurements Friday, villagers and vacationers feigned feelings that the centuries-old Alpine village of Brienz — home to fewer than 100 people — could soon be subsumed under flowing rock.
The shifting clatter of the earth and the intermittent clamor of rocks slamming and sliding on the ground highlighted the growing urgency of the local population to get out of town by the 6pm deadline set by the Swiss authorities.
At a local town hall meeting on Tuesday, authorities ordered an evacuation and said people would not be allowed to stay overnight after Friday, although they may return from time to time starting Saturday, depending on the level of danger.
The centuries-old village straddles the German- and Romansh-speaking parts of the eastern Graubünden region, and lies southwest of Davos at an altitude of about 1,150 meters (3,800 feet).
Local officials say the mountain and the rocks on it have been moving since the last Ice Age. But they issued a statement on Tuesday saying the measurements indicated “strong acceleration over a large area” in recent days, and “up to 2 million cubic meters of shale material will collapse or slide over the next seven to 24 days.”
Experts estimate there is a 60% chance that rocks will fall in smaller fragments, which may not reach the village or the valley, said Christian Gartmann, a member of the crisis management board for the town of Albula, whose municipality is Brienz. A landslide can move slowly.
But there is also a 10% chance that the 2 million cubic meter block could fall, threatening lives, property and the village itself, he said.
Melting glaciers have affected rock brittleness over thousands of years, Gartmann said, but melting glaciers due to “man-made” climate change in recent decades has not been a factor.
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