Extreme precipitation; Rockslide; Recurrent landslides; Flysch Carpathians; Czech Republic

More than 150 landslides originated in the eastern part of region of the Flysch Outer Western Carpathians in Czech Republic due to soil saturation caused by antecedent precipitation and long lasting and intensive rainfalls on 16-18 May 2010 (>300 mm as measured by some stations). Most landslides are characterised as shallow (<10 m) or middle-deep (10-30 m) incipient (rather short travel) landslides, debris slides and soil slips spatially clustered to a geological domain underlain by rather weak thin bedded flysch and unconsolidated Quaternary deposits. A majority of the May 2010 landslide events developed inside older (Holocene or historic) landslide terrains, which points to their spatial persistency and recurrent nature. In spite of the fact that the May 2010 landslide event was not as destructive as some previous landslide activation in the Outer Western Carpathians region (e.g. July 1997 event), it left many slope failures at the initial stage of their potential future reactivation.