Unanswered Questions About the Deadly Washington Mudslide
The death toll rose to 28 on Tuesday.
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A Catastrophic Landslide - One of the deadliest landslides in recent U.S. history struck the small town of Oso, Washington, earlier this month. The death toll increased to 28 on Tuesday as the Snohomish County medical examiner's confirmed that 22 of the victims have been positively identified. As the search for the missing and clean-up continues, BET.com takes a closer look at the mudslide to find out how it occured and why. — Dominique Zonyeé (@DominiqueZonyee)(Photo: AP Photo/ The Seattle Times, Marcus Yam)
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What Creates a Deadly Mudslide? - Mudslides are a type of landslide, where mud quickly moves down a hillside. Deadly mudslides are caused when the hillsides become saturated with water from river overflow due to excessive rainfall.(Photo: Washington State Dept of Transportation via Getty Images)
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What Happened in Washington? - Loose sand-like material laid down near the Stilliguamish River by glacial lakes less than 16,000 years ago, according to Washington State geologist Dan McShane of Stratum Group, who writes a blog called Reading the Washington Landscape. Over time the loose material was cut down — creating hillsides. When oversaturated with water, the hillsides had a history of collapsing. (Photo: Lindsey Wasson/The Seattle Times-Pool/Getty Images)
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How Much Rainfall Does It Take? - Arlington, a neighboring town, reported 7.33 inches of rain so far this month, which is almost double the average for March. Although it wasn’t raining when the mudslide occurred on Saturday, previous rainfall left the mud so wet and thick, firefighters and rescue crew members were buried in mud and had to be pulled out by ropes.(Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
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Can Other Things Cause a Mudslide? - The mudslide could also be a result of Mother Nature, according to John Pennington, Snohomish County's director of emergency management. He told reporters that officials identified a 1.1 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the area on March 10, but it remains unclear if that definitely played a role in the disaster.(Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images)
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