Fast slope movements: initiation mechanisms, runout behaviour and hazard mapping. An introductory note to the special section

Domenico Calcaterra(*) & Francesco M. Guadagno(**)
(*) Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e delle Risorse, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy. E-mail: domcalca@unina.it (**) Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie, Università degli Studi del Sannio, Benevento, Italy.

This editorial introduces a special section of the Italian Journal of Geosciences dedicated to fast slope movements, as a follow up of a session of Geoitalia 2011, the 8th Italian Forum of Earth Sciences, held in Torino, Italy, on September 19-23, 2011. To present the special section some themes, considered as relevant by the international scientific community, are discussed and followed by a brief description of the main topics addressed in the contributions to this special section.

Fast-moving landslides, modelling, susceptibility, hazard and risk assessment.