HK records 257 landslides last year

Hong Kong recorded 257 landslide reports last year, higher than the recent annual average of 200, the government revealed on Monday. The Civil Engineering and Development Department added that while 24 landslides were considered large-scale, none resulted in casualties. Lawrence Shum, deputy head of the department’s Geotechnical Engineering Office, said a risk-based approach had been adopted to identify slopes more vulnerable to landslides, allowing for targeted improvement works. “We [have] already completed the mitigation works or upgrading works of 7,000 so-called high-risk slopes,” he said. “So those remaining ones, we call them moderate-risk slopes. They are on the way to be upgraded. But the overall risk brought by those moderate-risk slopes is not that high.” Last year, the Observatory issued three landslip warnings. Such a warning is issued when persistent, heavy rainfall is expected to cause more than 15 landslides. While the warnings were in effect, a total of 212 landslides occurred, accounting for around 80 percent of the year’s tally. Shum said the figures were proof that landslip warnings are very effective as a reminder for people to stay away from slopes during bad weather conditions. He expressed confidence in the accuracy of the department's forecasts with the launch of a new artificial intelligence-driven landslip warning system earlier this year. Shum added the department had largely completed the first phase of its "Smart Slope Catalogue", expanding its database to cover natural hillsides, maintenance records, rainfall data and landslide history. Edited by Tony Sabine