Some insights about the relation among seismic activity tectonic structures and rockslide kinematics at the Vajont dam site

Fifty years of research on the disaster of Vajont were not sufficient to make seismologists and geologists convergence in a common explanation. The different points of view can be summarized in the following sentences: "the study of seismograms leaves no uncertainty: the earthquake was the consequence and not the cause [of the rockslide]" (Selli and Trevisan, 1964); "[a] fault hypothesis raises the possibility that seismicity played a part in initiating the slide even if only by triggering an imminent event" (Mantovani and Vita-Finzi, 2003). The measured and evaluated characteristics (geological, engineering, hydraulical, geophysical data) of the Vajont event may be assembled and interpreted according to a wide range of views. This constitutes an obstacle to obtain convergent results. However, this impasse is common in complex environmental policy problems (cf. Sarewitz, 2004). A new interpretation of the kinematics of the Vajont slide is proposed with the aims to overcome scientific inconsistencies and to stimulate interdisciplinary studies.