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Slow-Moving Landslide Splits Wyoming Home

Slow-Moving Landslide Splits Wyoming Home

A slow-moving landslide has split a hillside home in a Wyoming resort town and threatens to destroy more houses and businesses.

The ground beneath the 100ft (30-metre) hillside in Jackson has been slowly giving way for almost two weeks.

But the creeping slide has accelerated in recent days, with rocks and dirt tumbling down.

Officials suspended efforts to shore up the slope and said they were uncertain what else could be done.

Town spokeswoman Charlotte Reynolds said: "When is it going to go? How long is it going to last?

"These are the questions we just can't answer and they're what everyone wants to know."

Experts say the hillside is unlikely to suddenly collapse like the March 22 mudslide in Oso, Washington, that killed 39 people.

But local authorities issued an evacuation order in hopes of avoiding injuries.

George Machan, a landslide specialist, says the ground has been moving at a rate of an inch a day but is expected to move increasingly faster as time goes on.

The area of the slide has been graded for roads and businesses in recent years, including a new Walgreens drug store.

Local resident Rick Johnson said he had no doubt that the natural geologic forces at work have been amplified by the construction.

He said: "I think they are just messing with Mother Nature and they didn't think of the long-term consequences."

Rockslides are common throughout the Rocky Mountains in the spring, as melting snow and warmer weather unleashes the region's dynamic geology.