On October 9, 1963, at the Vajont, a huge mass of Mount Toc slides into the lake of an Italian dam. The displaced water crosses the structure and descends to the localities located below, in particular Longarone. Nearly two thousand people are dying. However, the large concrete wall did not collapse.
The danger came from the slope and its interaction with restraint. Ground movements had already been observed before the disaster. The speed and volume of the landslide turned the lake into the source of a destructive wave. Judging only the strength of the dam was not enough to understand what could happen around it.
The still standing dam makes the disaster more startling. Its material resistance had not been enough to protect the inhabitants from the water displaced by the mountain.
What we know
The disaster is caused by a slip in the hold and overflow of the water; do not represent a break in the dam.
To go to the source
References accessed October 11, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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