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The 2020 Gjerdrum landslide was a quick clay
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
that occurred in the early hours of 30 December 2020 at Ask village, the administrative centre of Gjerdrum, Norway. It spanned a flow off area of and additionally affected by debris flow. Several buildings were destroyed, most of them houses and apartment buildings. As of 22 March 2021, ten people had been confirmed killed by the landslide. In 2022, the police charged Gjerdrum Municipality. The causes of the landslide .. had by 2022 beeninvestigated by police; another investigation, tasked with finding - prior to August 2021 - the causes of the landslide, will be performed by a group of experts.


Background

There have previously been landslides in Gjerdrum municipality. During the night between 20 and 21 October 1924, a landslide destroyed several farms and damaged 1600 metres of road. In 1973 there was a landslide at Ask. A 1980 landslide was near the south end of the 2020 landslide. In 2014, a landslide destroyed two houses. In July 2008, an article published in '' Romerikes Blad'' stated that hydrologist and geologist Steinar Myrabø had warned the municipality of soil erosion and the potential risk of a landslide, calling for a halt in construction at
Nystulia Nystulia (1–147, 2–148) is a road built as a three-part road network in a residential area of the same name in the village of Ask in the municipality of Gjerdrum in Akershus county. The road has access via three intersections from the road F ...
on behalf of
Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature ( no, Norges Naturvernforbund, NNV), also known as Friends of the Earth Norway, is one of the largest Norwegian environmental organisations with approximately 24,000 members. The organisation i ...
's local chapter. In November 2020 a hiking path was constructed 150 m westwards of the later slide area. The photos of heavy machinery initiated public concern. But the path and the slide area are separated by two small ridges and the Fjelstadbekken stream. According to the broadcaster NRK, intense rain in the days before the incident may have caused soil movements in the area. The Nannestad municipality next to Gjerdrum evacuated a hamlet on 15 December 2020 after a small landslide nearby.


Search and recovery operations

The first reports of the landslide were made at 3:51am on 30 December 2020. 10 people were injured, with 26 initially reported missing, though it was later determined that the actual number of missing persons was 10.Norway landslide: Houses buried in Gjerdrum village near Oslo
31 December 2020 ''www.bbc.com'' accessed 2 January 2021
On New Year's Day, assistance from
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
was requested; a 14-person Urban Search and Rescue team from Sweden worked onsite, and was released the same evening after the arrival of additional Norwegian rescue personnel. By 1 January 2021 details of the ten people missing were published by police. The same day, the first casualty was reported. Early on 2 January, the body of a second victim was found, and later that day two more people were found dead. On 3 January, three more people were found dead, bringing the death toll to seven. Three people still remained missing, with searches continuing. On 5 January 2021 the Norwegian authorities stated they no longer held out any hope of finding further survivors. At that time, three people were still missing. A video released by the police on 6 January shows a rescue helicopter over the landslide, searching for survivors. The video is recorded by a police helicopter, and from the communications one can hear how they are trying to guide the rescue helicopter to the potential survivors' location.


Victims

The names of the victims were made public on 1 January, with the permission of their families.


Search for presumed dead

On 5 January the police stated that they no longer held out any hope of finding more survivors, but would continue the search for the last three victims. The same day the Norwegian Armed Forces and their equipment left the area, with only the Home Guard left on the scene till 12 January The Norwegian Civil Defence terminated their mission on 15 January and a civilian security company continued to guard the affected areas. After a two weeks break the search for the remaining missing victims continued from 18 January. On 9 February 2021 two bodies were located by search teams searching for the three remaining missing victims. On 22 March the last missing person was found.


Mobilized resources

Several government and private organizations, military units and volunteer organizations were involved in the search and recovery operation:


Emergency Services

*
Upper Romerrike fire and rescue Upper may refer to: * Shoe#Shoe construction, Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film titl ...
- Initial responding force. Later relieved by other agencies. * Lower Romerrike fire and rescue - Close partners with
Upper Romerrike fire and rescue Upper may refer to: * Shoe#Shoe construction, Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film titl ...
. Responded with mutual aid to the landslide area.
Oslo Fire and Rescue service
- Initial USAR crews, accompanied by emergency medical services and Police. *
Trøndelag Fire and Rescue service Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a Counties of Norway, county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by ...
- Secondary USAR forces. Relieved the swedish USAR squad on arrival. * Bergen Fire and Rescue service - Secondary USAR forces.


Government agencies

* Norwegian Civil Defence – Shelters for HQ and SAR organization, logistics, vehicles and establishing temporary water and sewage lines in the affected areas. *
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate ( no, Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat or NVE) is a Norwegian government agency established in 1921. It is under the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and regulates the country's water reso ...
– Ground and avalanche analysis, professional advice to the police * Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency – USAR team


Private organizations

* Norwegian Geotechnical Institute – Geology expertise. *
Multiconsult Multiconsult is an engineering consultancy with 2800 employees operating in Norway, elsewhere in Europe and globally. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In addition to its headquarters in Oslo, Multiconsult has local offices in se ...
– Ground and avalanche analysing. *
Andøya Space Andøya Space, also named Andøya Space Center and formerly Andøya Rocket Range, is a rocket launch site, rocket range, and spaceport on Andøya island (the northernmost in the Vesterålen archipelago) in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, ...
- Aerea surveillance and production of dronedata to rescue coordinators.


Volunteer organizations

* Regional Red Cross units – Evacuation of residents, volunteer ambulances and organizing of evacuation centers. * Norwegian People's Aid – Volunteer ambulances, evacuation of a nursing home, vehicles, organizing of evacuation centers. * Norwegian Rescue Dog Association – 28 K9 units on standby. * Norwegian Radio Relay League – Organizing of signals and communication.


Norwegian armed forces

* Engineer battalion – Leguan bridge layer, ground strengthening system and support for SAR crews in the disaster area. * Norwegian Home Guard – Guarding of the disaster perimeter. * Special Operations Commando – Drone search and organizing of airspace. *
330 Squadron No. 330 Squadron RNoAF ( no, 330 skvadron) is a helicopter unit of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) and is Norway's military search and rescue service. The squadron operates ten Westland Sea King helicopters based at six airbases along th ...
– Rescue helicopters ( Sea King and SAR Queen). * 333 SquadronP-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft, initial search of disaster area. * 339 Special Operations Aviation Squadron – Two
Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. Design and development Development began in the ...
helicopters, search and rescue and personnel transport. * Intelligence BattalionImage analysing of drone photos.


Aftermath

The Nannestad and Gjerdrum Red Cross received large amounts of donations of toys, clothing, and hygiene products for the survivors of the landslide. Following the disaster, several news outlets revealed that the affected area had been designated as a high-risk area for landslides as early as 2005 and that it was scheduled for a new evaluation in 2021 due to the increased amount of housing and construction projects in the area. Several experts and engineers later criticized the Norwegian national government as well as local government for not taking high-risk areas seriously and allowing housing projects to continue despite having "clear instructions of how to deal with these areas for over fifty years."


Reactions

Prime Minister Erna Solberg visited the affected area on 31 December 2020, and King Harald V dedicated parts of his New Year's Speech to those affected by the disaster. The King of Sweden,
Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. He ascended the throne on the death of his grandfather, Gustaf VI Adolf, on 15 September 1973. He is the youngest child and only son of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Du ...
, also publicly expressed his sympathies the following day. The President of Finland
Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...
and the Prime Minister Sanna Marin also expressed their condolences to the Norwegian government and people. On 3 January 2021, King Harald V, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon visited the disaster area to speak with rescuers, volunteers, evacuees and their relatives.


See also

* List of landslides * Tafjord rockslide


References


External links


Gjerdrum-skredet: Elv i rasområdet har aldri vært sikret
he Gjerdrum landslide: River in the area of landslide, was never made secure(20 February 2021)
Gjerdrum: Advarte gjentatte ganger om oversvømmelser – ingen tok ansvaret
jerdrum: Warned repeatedly, about flooding – no one took responsibility(12 February 2021)
Gjerdrum: Utgraving av gangvei sist høst kjent for kommunen først etter skredet
jerdrum: excavation of footpath last autumn (became) known to the municipality, only after the landslide(30 January 2021)
Startet ulovlig byggearbeid ved skredområdet i 2012: «Kraftig påtrykk fra utbygger»
tarted illegal construction work in 2012, next to the landslide area: «Lot of (, or heavy) pressuring by the developer»(30 January 2021)
Planla å sjekke ut gamle rør ved skredområdet – mistenkte vannlekkasjer
lanned to check old pipes near the landslide area – suspected water leaks (29 January 2021)
Geolog om Gjerdrum-skredet: Ganske sikker på at svaret ligger i bekkene
eologist about the Gjerdrum landslide: Rather sure that the answer lies in the stream(22 January 2021)
Skredkatastrofen i Gjerdrum: Slik skal de jakte svar
he landslide disaster in Gjerdrum: This is how they will hunt for answers(19 January 2021)
Kvikkleireskredet i Gjerdrum er en skandale som må få store konsekvenser
he quick clay landslide in Gjerdrum must result in large consequencesbr>Slo alarm etter dette
ounded the alarm after this {{DEFAULTSORT:Gjerdrum landslide, 2020 2020 disasters in Norway 2020 in Norway December 2020 events in Norway 2020 landslide History of Viken (county) Landslides in 2020 Landslides in Norway