How is 2020 treating people? Well, not so well. Several houses near the coastal areas swept into the sea due to a landslide in Alta, norther Norway on Wednesday.
Speaking to CNN, Anders Bjordal, Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Dictorate engineer, told CNN that he had seen a 'big clay slide' after he was called at the spot at around 4 pm on Wednesday in order to guide the police and the rescue team.
According to Bjordal, "the slide was 650 meters (2,133 feet) wide and 150 meters (492 feet) deep which destroyed eight buildings that included four cabins which act as weekend residences," CNN reported.
Fortunately, no one was injured and all residents were successfully evacuated from the buildings, Bjordal said.
According to the New York Post, however, Finnmark's police officer Torfinn Halvari said that they could not yet ascertain if any lives were lost.
He added that a dog also swept away in the landslide but he swam back to the land. An emergency rescue team retrieved the pupper who was waiting on the mainland to be rescued. It is yet to be ascertained if the pup was a stray or a lost dog looking for his/her owner.
He added that the landslides of this scale happen in Norway happen in every one or two years adding that "but here in Alta there has never been a slide that big."
Alta, located in Norway's northermost Finnmark country, is famous for its forests, coastal landscapes, mountain plateaus and Norther lights.
Now, the officials will be monitoring the land to keep an eye on any further movement of the landslides over the next few days. They will also keep a check on the sea and seabed levels and next week soil measurements will also be taken, Bjordal told CNN.
