Fatal landslides in Kencho, Shacha & Gozdi villages, Gofa zone, Ethiopia: A detailed investigation (Geological, Geotechnical, geophysical & geospatial) of the July 22, 2024 catastrophe and its socioeconomic repercussions

A landslide is one of the geological hazards that cause the most disaster in densely populated areas. The landslide that occurred in Gezie Gofa woreda, Gofa Zone, Kencho Shacha Gozdi village, killed more than 250 people. Two landslides occurred on July 22, 2024, at 8:30 and 10:40 AM The first landslide killed six people and demolished three houses. The second landslide killed more than 245 people, including those who came to the site to excavate the buried bodies during the first landslide. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the landslide causative factors, model the landslide susceptibility, and characterize the landslide disaster on socioeconomic effects that occurred on July 22, 2024. The landslide inventory data, field surveys, laboratory analyses, and various geophysical surveys characterized the current and past landslides of the area. The landslide susceptibility model was modeled using a statistical approach in the GIS. environment. The socioeconomic effects were assessed using field surveys and systematic interviews with the victims. The conditioning factors selected for landslide susceptibility modeling are lithology, geological structures, groundwater, slope, land use or land cover, aspect, curvature, and elevation. The major triggering factor of the landslide in the area was heavy rainfall, which occurred on July 21–22, 2024, between 3:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m. The results reveal that the significant conditioning factors of the landslide in the study area are geological structures (both visible and inferred), groundwater, slopes, and human activities. The characterized socioeconomic effects include the destruction of agricultural land, the demolishing of houses, and the loss of human lives, as well as several people evacuated and sheltered under tents and churches. However, the most momentous disaster in the area is the loss of human life. Based on the research results, it would be better to relocate those people living in the high landslide susceptible zones, and all high landslide-prone areas and mountainous terrain in southern Ethiopia should be mapped, and the people should be aware of the landslide risk areas.