Vajont Dam

Vajont Dam is a concrete arch dam in northern Italy, completed in 1959 above the Vajont Valley. In 1963, a landslide into its reservoir generated a wave that overtopped the dam and devastated downstream communities.

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Monte Toc landslide: A massive 1963 slope failure on Monte Toc that plunged into the Vajont reservoir. Its displacement of reservoir water created the wave that overtopped the dam.
Sade hydroelectric power station: A hydroelectric scheme in northeastern Italy that included the Vajont reservoir and dam. Vajont Dam was built as part of this regional power-development project.
Vajont disaster: The 1963 catastrophe in which a landslide-generated wave overtopped Vajont Dam and devastated communities below. The dam's overtopping was the defining event of this disaster.
Risk communication: The exchange of information about hazards and their likelihood and consequences. Warnings about slope movement did not produce effective protection for downstream residents.
Reservoir-induced seismicity: Earthquakes triggered or altered by changes in water pressure associated with filling reservoirs. Reservoir filling formed part of the changing conditions around the unstable slope.
Carlo Semenza: An Italian engineer who designed major dams, including Vajont Dam. His design shaped the dam that remained standing during the disaster.
Longarone: An Italian town largely destroyed by the Vajont disaster on 9 October 1963. The wave and flood devastated Longarone downstream from the dam.
Engineering ethics: The study of moral responsibilities and choices in engineering practice. Vajont tests professional duties when evidence of danger conflicts with project goals.
Landslide tsunami: A large water wave generated when a landslide enters or moves beneath a body of water. The Monte Toc slide generated this kind of wave inside the reservoir.
Dino Tonini: An Italian geologist involved in assessing the Vajont reservoir site and its slopes. His geological work concerned the terrain later implicated in the catastrophe.