Abstract

BORJA BAEZA, Roberto Carlos  and  ALCANTARA AYALA, Irasema. Mass movement processes and associated risks in Zacapoaxtla, Puebla. Invest. Geog [online]. 2004, n.53, pp.7-26. ISSN 2448-7279.

The mountainous relief of Mexico enhances naturally the occurrence of mass movement processes. However, hundreds of failures occurred in October 1999, as a result of an extreme precipitation event originated by a tropical storm. Zacapoaxtla, in addition to other municipalities, such as Teziutlan, Totomoxtla, Zapotitlán de Méndez, Tlatlauquitepec, etc. was severely affected by these phenomena. The incidence of these movements resulted from the combination of geological and geomorphic features as well as by human activities which have modified the environment. In this paper, an instability analysis of Zacapoaxtla is presented. The analysis was carried out taking into account the interaction among the relief, moisture concentration and material properties by using the Stability Index Mapping SINMAP. Results were later on combined with a vulnerability analysis also presented in here, to finally produce a risk map of the Municipality.

Keywords : Mass movement processes; susceptibility; vulnerability; risk; Zacapoaxtla.

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