The landslide

Although the big landslide on the 18 December 2020 took only a few minutes to fall, the lead-up to and aftermath of the disaster will last much longer. Smaller landslides had fallen in the previous days and caused damage, the civil defense had declared a level of uncertainty, the town’s infrastructure had reached its limit, the drains had not escaped and the rescue team and town workers had worked almost non-stop for many days.
After the big landslide, the town was evacuated and many people’s lives had taken unexpected and difficult changes. Some people had to deal with the fact that their lives were in immediate danger, others’ homes were destroyed, others were never allowed to return home, jobs were lost, and the sense of security of most residents was seriously shaken.
For the purpose of mapping the process, students at the University of Iceland, with a grant from the Student Innovation Fund, collected a variety of materials regarding the landslides and set up an interesting website and timeline that can be viewed here.
The project was a joint project of the Technical Museum, the National Museum of Iceland and the Department of Museum Studies at the University of Iceland.

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