ABSTRACT
Mass movements are one of the geodynamic processes that occur worldwide and cause significant changes in landscape. In many cases they cause substantial economic damage and sometimes even fatalities. Landslides have occurred for a long time and they concern both natural slopes and man-made engineering structures. Mass movement is the downward and outward movement of slope-forming material under the influence of gravity. It is different from 'mass transport', as it does not require transporting medium such as water, air, or ice. Fall is a sudden free movement of material away from very steep slopes. Topples consist of a long-term forward rotation of a rock, debris, or soil column about a pivot or hinge on a hillslope. Slide is a mass movement along single or multiple recognizable shear surfaces. Lateral spreading is a lateral extension of a cohesive rock or soil mass over a deforming mass of softer underlying material in which the controlling basal shear surface is often not well-defined.
