The Catak landslide disaster, Trabzon Province, Turkey

The Catak landslide (Trabzon Province, Turkey) developed retrogressively upslope through a series of small slips, culminating with the catastrophic rock avalanche of 23rd June, 1988 when at least 66 people were killed. The landslide was caused by prolonged heavy rainfall triggering a failure in a partially supported 25-m high road cutting in colluvium, which progressively removed support for the higher parts of the slope and resulted in the catastrophic slide. Such high-magnitude events are not uncommon in the Black Sea Mountains but the recent disaster highlights the need for systematic landslide hazard assessments in the region.