Landslide in Italy

It occurred on February 15, 2010 in the southern Italian town of Maierato and according to the NASA Earth Observatory website, it "may have been caused by heavy rain.... The slide area was a steep, plant-covered hill before the landslide occurred."

"A video [top] of the slide shows the hillside slowly moving forward and crumbling as if pushed from below."

Above, a photograph from space of the affected area taken back in 2003.

Below, the same area on March 14, 2010, a month after the landslide.

More from the NASA site: "Gravity constantly tugs downward on a slope, but only when gravity’s force exceeds the strength of the rocks, soils, and sediments composing the slope does land begin to slide down hill. Landslides often occur in conjunction with other events, and rainfall in the Maierato region likely initiated this slide."

"The landslide affecting Maierato was one of perhaps 100 landslides in the southern Italian region of Calabria, although most of the landslides reportedly did not affect populated areas."

BBC News reported that approximately 200 people were evacuated.

[via Milena]