Rockfall at Upper Island Cove.
On February 14 1999, a rock fall took place at Upper Island Cove, on the Avalon Peninsula. An eight tonne block toppled from the top of a 100 m slope, ran roughly 150 m, struck a house, and landed on top of a car parked beside the house. A resident within the house was knocked across the room by the impact but was unhurt. Examination of the site by government geologists and consultants with Newfoundland Geosciences Ltd. allowed this incident to be well documented (Newfoundland Geosciences, 1999). The rock came from a wedge type failure, and travelled down a direct path, bouncing and splitting into two fragments at the base of the slope. A follow-up study identified several other loose blocks that required stabilization and suggested that risk of future rock fall was high. In response to this hazard, protective measures were installed in the summer of 1999.

Reproduced by permission of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador © 1999.