A study on the 10 November 2014 intense rainfall and the related landslides in the lower Lavagna valley (eastern Liguria)

Andrea Cevasco (a), Giacomo Pepe (a), Giacomo D'Amato Avanzi (b) & Roberto Giannecchini (b)
(a) Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences , University of Genoa, Corso Europa, 26, 16135, Genoa, Italy. E-mail: cevasco@dipteris.unige.it (b) Earth Sciences Department, University of Pisa, Via S. Maria, 53, 56126, Pisa, Italy.

On 10 November 2011 some small coastal basins of the Tigullio gulf and the middle Lavagna and Sturla valleys (eastern Liguria), were hit by an intense rainfall. Flash floods involved the city of Chiavari and shallow landslides were triggered on the slopes, causing severe damage to settlements and road network. Some buildings were destroyed and two casualties occurred at Leivi, in the lower Lavagna valley. This paper synthesizes the results of preliminary surveys carried out few days after the event in the area most affected by shallow landslides. The investigations, which are still in progress, have contributed to understand the characteristics of both triggering rainfall and landslide source areas. These achievements will be helpful in studying rainfall thresholds, shallow landslide modeling, landslide susceptibility and risk assessment for the study area.

eastern Liguria, debris flow, intense rainfall, shallow landslide.