Looming, creeping landslide splits home in Wyoming
Angus M. Thuemer Jr
A house breaks apart as a slow-moving landslide in Jackson, Wyo. advances downhill on Friday, April 18. 2014. The slide has cut off access to a 60-person neighborhood and has threatened town utilities, including a water line. (AP Photo/Jackson Hole News and Guide, Angus M. Thuermer Jr)
JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) — A sudden lurch in a creeping landslide in the northwest Wyoming resort town of Jackson split a house in two and forced workers to abandon efforts to stabilize the hillside.
A huge crack in the ground that had opened up under the house a couple weeks ago shifted several feet downhill in less than a day, breaking off a room or two and leaving a door swinging above the precipice.
Rocks and dirt tumbled down in an almost constant stream and a geologist warned much bigger chunks could fall.
The ground was moving at a rate of an inch a day. On Friday, it was a foot a day.
Landslide specialist George Machan says the ground is unlikely to liquefy and collapse suddenly like the March 22 landslide in Oso, Wash., that killed 39 people.
HONS
This aerial image provided by Tributary Environmental shows a home damaged by a landslide Friday, April 18, 2014 in Jackson, Wyo. A slow-moving landslide in Jackson sped up significantly Friday, splitting this house in two, causing a huge uplift in a road and a Walgreens parking lot, and threatening to destroy several other unoccupied homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Tributary Environmental) NO SALES
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