A preliminary finite-element analysis of a shallow landslide in
the Alki area of Seattle, Washington
Version 1.0
This report presents a preliminary finite-element based stability analyses of a shallow landslide that occurred during the period from December 1996 to early January 1997 near Alki Beach and Duwamish Head at the north end of West Seattle, Washington. The analyzed landslide, 18 m high and 75 m long, mobilized into a debris flow that traveled down a 35-meter-high embankment below the slide damaging the bottom floors of two apartment buildings at the foot of the embankment. The finite-element modeling results give a general idea of the mechanism of landsliding at the Alki site; that is, that failure occurred in response to a rising perched groundwater table on a surface at the contact between colluvium and clay and sand layers. This failure triggered a general movement of the colluvium which then mobilized into the destructive debris flow.
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