| TRAGEDY OF VAJONT the power of water and the insignificancy of humanity  |
| Vajont Dam |
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| what happened? |
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| Vajont's video by Marco Paolini |
On 9 October 1963 at approximately 10:35pm, the combination of 'drawing-down the reservoir' and heavy rains triggered a landslide of about 260 million cubic meters of forest, earth, and rock, which fell into the reservoir at up to 110 km per hour (68 mph). The resulting displacement of water caused 50 million cubic meters of water to over-top the dam in a 250-meter high wave. Despite this, the dam's structure was largely undamaged — the top metre or so of masonry was washed away, but the basic structure remained intact.
The flooding in the Piave valley destroyed the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè, killing 1,450 people and turning the land below into a flat plain of mud. Many small villages in the territory of Erto e Casso and the village of Codissago, near Castellavazzo, were largely wrecked. Estimates of the dead range from 1900 to 2500 people, and about 350 families lost all members. Most of the survivors had lost relatives and friends along with their homes and belongings.
The villages near the landslide also suffered damage from the air displacement caused by the impact.
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