A massive rockslide of tens of thousands of cubic metres of rocks fell on a major road west of Grenoble last night (July 25).
Firefighters are continuing their searches of the site as a precaution although at this stage no one is thought to have been injured.
The landslide began around 19:00 yesterday (July 25) in the commune of La Rivière (Isère) when a few rocks began to roll down the side of a mountain close to a quarry. A smaller landslide had hit the same areas earlier in the afternoon, but had mostly gone unnoticed.
A full-scale landslide followed in the evening with tens of thousands of cubic metres of rocks falling, leaving a significant hole in the mountainside.
A plume of dust up to 300 metres followed and was spotted by residents of towns several kilometres away.
Some homes in nearby Saint-Gervais and de Vinay temporarily lost their electricity supplies.
No homes were directly hit and no one is reported to have been injured.
You can see videos and photos of the aftermath of the rock slide below.
Stunning landslide tonight at 7 pm at La Rivière near Rovon (Isère, Vercors foothills)! 😱
Major event was preceded by a smaller one in early afternoon The departure area is above a quarry, near Mont Arte Deposit locally up to 20m thick reached the road!https://t.co/b1P41iegc3pic.twitter.com/O5NCia4EF4
⚠️ Un spectaculaire éboulement vient de se produire à Saint Gervais au niveau de la carrière de La Rivière. Grande prudence si vous êtes dans le secteur. Photo de Kentin Ruel pic.twitter.com/bk2c0lvqIE
The screenshot below shows how close the landslide was to Grenoble, which is the largest metropolitan area across the entire Alps mountain range.
Screenshot of Google Maps
Search operations underway, road closed
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Search operations from firefighters were continuing this morning with drones and sniffer dogs being used.
“At this stage, there is no reason to believe that there are any potential victims. No missing persons have been reported,” said the Isère prefecture.
The rockslide has completely blocked the departmental 1532 road near La Rivière, which sees around 7,000 vehicles pass per day.
The road has been closed, within a 12-kilometre zone around the main point of the landslide.
Drivers should take alternate routes as the road will remain closed for the foreseeable future.
⚠️ Éboulement sur la RD1532 Les recherches sont suspendues en raison de l’instabilité du terrain. Dés l’aube, une analyse par survol permettra d’évaluer les conditions d’une poursuite des investigations en toute sécurité.
