Video – The mountain rolls and rolls: the residents of the village of Brienz forced to evacuate for fear of being swallowed up

It’s a scenario worthy of a disaster movie that threatens the small village of Brienz in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. For several days, residents have been told to evacuate their homes as the authorities fear a collapse. Nearly two million cubic meters of rock could soon break off the mountain, destroying the beautiful homes of this picturesque little town of a hundred. They have until Friday evening to do so.

Muffled and dangerous sound

The mountain has become very dangerous. Multiple landslides but also a dull noise like a clatter repeated every 10 minutes carrying stones on its side. The vegetation, usually very green, is today covered with a mat of stones. Roads have been closed and animals evacuated.

This phenomenon has been explained in part because the village of Brienz is located in an unstable geological area. “The rock is moving at a speed of up to 36 meters per year,” Christian Gartmann, member of the Crisis Management Committee, explained that Reuters. Its progress is ruthless. No one knows if the boulder will suddenly fall and swallow everything, or will continue to slide piece by piece.

at a speed of 36 meters per year

“The area of ​​rock that is expected to collapse soon is only a small part of a much larger and more complex landslide, in which the village of Brienz is located, which has been developing more or less continuously since the end of the last ice age 15,000 years ago.”Renald Delaloye, professor of geosciences at the University of Friborg, explained to the paper the time. In addition, climate change is putting Switzerland at increased risk of natural disasters, including increased erosion due to rising temperatures, according to Swiss authorities.