Fatal non-seismic rockfalls in Spain

RESEARCH Open Access © The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit h t t p : / / c r e a t i v e c o m m o n s . o r g / l i c e n s e s / b y / 4 . 0 /. Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-025-00317-9 Alcalá de Júcar (Castile La Mancha), with dozens of deaths each and numerous collapsed buildings (see Sect.4). These villages are located at slopes crowned by rock cliffs. Rockfalls have also caused accidents in communication corridors such as roads and railways. Rockfalls affecting railways are the ones that cause the greatest number of victims and attract the most public attention like the one in Ametlla de Mar (Catalonia) in 1926, which caused 24 deaths and more than 150 injuries. In recent decades, there have also been episodes of rockfalls with a significant economic impact, such as the ones that occurred between 2008 and 2010 in the Tramuntana range (Balearic Islands), with severe material damage and interruptions to road traffic (Mateos et al. 2012). Although the above events are indicative of the large scale of the consequences across the country, a systematic review of rockfall casualties in general and by context is lacking in the literature. Several researchers have analyzed the occurrence of fatal landslides but not specifically fatal rockfalls. Most Introduction Rockfalls are pervasive geological processes that substantially affect population, properties, infrastructure and services. This term is applied to blocks or rock masses that, after their separation from a steep wall, experience free fall and subsequent impact against the ground, with the consequent rebound, possible rolling and/or sliding of the fragments (Cruden and Varnes 1996; Hungr 2016). Various historical events highlight the risk posed by rockfalls in Spain. The most catastrophic ones occurred in Azagra (Navarre), Beas de Segura (Andalusia) and Geoenvironmental Disasters *Correspondence: Nieves Lantada [email protected] 1International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-UPC. BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-UPC. BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain 3Department of Civil Engineering, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece Abstract Rockfalls are the slope instability processes that cause the greatest number of victims in Spain, as well as considerable economic losses. This paper quantifies the impact of fatal rockfalls obtained from the documentary collection, mainly written press. We compiled 1,118 events that occurred between 1803 and 2021 and caused casualties (1,550 deaths and around 2,184 injuries). From this set, we analyzed the seasonal distribution and multiannual evolution of 1,018 rockfalls events for the period 1872–2021 (150 years) in which the daily written press was available. The inventoried cases were divided according to the context in which they occurred: dwellings and villages, quarries and excavations, railways, roads and outdoor activities (mountain trails and coastal areas). Diverging trends are observed. While the consequences and risk have decreased as stabilization and prevention actions accumulate around threatened dwellings, quarries and railroads, the number of fatal incidents has increased on roads and in natural spaces. This is due to the increase in roads and traffic, and especially, the greater presence of people in the natural environment (increased exposure). We present a first quantitative estimate of the investments made by administrations to stabilize artificial cuts and natural cliffs in order to reduce the risk of rockfalls. Fatal non-seismic rockfalls in Spain JordiCorominas1, NievesLantada2* , María AmparoNúñez-Andrés2 and Olga ChristinaMavrouli3 Page 2 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 studies have observed an increase over time in deaths from landslides. A main cause is found in the increase in urban population and to the improvement in systematic data collection (Aristizábal et al. 2019; Evans 2018; Grahn and Jaldell 2017; Sepúlveda and Petley 2015). Similarly, the fatality growth in Nepal is associated to the extension of the road network in mountain areas (Petley et al. 2007. In Italy, it has been noted that despite an increase in deaths over time in absolute terms, as the population has increased, the mortality rate has decreased (Guzzetti 2000). Other analyses in various countries indicate an oscillating trend in the number of events and associated deaths (Görüm and Fidan 2021; Pereira et al. 2016; Badoux et al. 2016; Petrucci 2022). Although the inventories on which these studies are based include rockfalls, it is not possible to adequately assess their impact. Landslides and rockfalls share triggers such as rainfall or earthquakes, but they do not interact in the same way to cause slope failure. Other triggers more specific to rockfalls exist such as snow melting, freeze-thaw cycles, rock weathering or root wedging. Infiltration from rain or snow melting raise cleft water pressures in joints of rock masses promoting destabilization of blocks (D’Amato et al. 2016; Delonca et al. 2014; Matsuoka 2019). Thermomechanical stresses due to temperature fluctuations (Collins and Stock 2016; Draebing and Krautblatter 2019), repeated freezing and thawing of water in joints (Matsuoka and Sakai 1999; Regmi and Watanabe 2009; Ravanel and Deline 2010) weaken rocks by creating and propagating fissures which eventually may destabilize rock blocks (Savi et al. 2021). For all these reasons, we understand that rockfalls do not necessarily follow the same pattern of occurrence as landslides, which justifies the particular analysis that we present here. This work attempts to provide a quantitative estimate of the rockfall fatalities and injuries in Spain by analyzing an inventory of historical rockfalls that caused victims. We have compiled an inventory of non-seismic rockfalls since 1803 that confidently will provide a representative assessment of their relevance and risk posed to the population in Spain. It is important to highlight that it is not an inventory of all rockfalls but only of those that caused victims (deaths and/or injuries). The latter is expected to be several orders of magnitude smaller than the total rockfall occurrence. It is therefore a reduced sample of the real rockfall activity in the country. Specifically, we aimed at: (1) providing a representative (almost complete) record of fatal rockfalls that occurred between 1872 and 2021, as a contribution to the existing regional and global databases; (2) performing a disaggregated analysis of the seasonal, temporal and spatial distribution of fatal rockfalls that occurred in different contexts; (3) carrying out a first estimate of the cost of remedial measures implemented by different administrations and (4) discussing the underlying causes of changes in the trend of rockfall fatalities by context (villages and dwellings, transportation infrastructure, quarries and excavations and the outdoor activities), over time. Rockfall occurrence and impacts in Spain Spatial distribution of rockfalls in the Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula is shared by Spain and Portugal and has a landscape favorable to the occurrence of rockfalls. The western and central part of the Peninsula is a plateau (“Meseta”) composed of crystalline and metamorphic rocks that form the Hercynian basement. The plateau has a mean height of 660m and is bounded on its Southern and Northeastern edges by the Guadalquivir and Ebro river basins, respectively. The plateau itself contains two river basins, the Duero and Tagus, filled with sediments of Cenozoic age and separated by the Central range (Fig.1). Several alpine ranges surround the plateau. The Pyrenees are in the North; the Cantabrian range extends toward the West; in the South there is the Baetic system; and in between there is the Iberian range. Finally, two archipelagos are of interest for rockfalls and landslides. In the Mediterranean Sea, there are the Balearic Islands, which, in geological terms, are the extension of the Baetic system towards the East. In the Atlantic Ocean there are the Canary Islands, of volcanic origin, characterized by the presence of large coastal cliffs and strongly entrenched ravines. Rockfalls are not evenly distributed in the Spanish territory. The Pyrenees, Cantabrian and Baetic ranges contain an inner core of igneous and metamorphic rocks shaped to a great extent by the Pleistocene glaciers and now subjected to periglacial activity. The erosive action of the glaciers and the incision of the present fluvial network, locally exacerbated by the orogenic uplift (e.g. the Baetic system), have resulted in a steep relief, which constitutes the main predisposing factor for slope instability. In the Cenozoic basins, rockfalls are concentrated along the main fluvial valleys, particularly in the transition between the plateau (“Meseta”) and the coastal fringe. There, deeply entrenched rivers flow, forming steep narrow gorges (“gargantas”, “tajos” and “hoces” in Spanish). Spain has a coastline of 7,880km. Almost half of the coastline consists of hard and soft cliffs, which are particularly abundant in the Atlantic area, on both the Northern and Southern edges of the Mediterranean coast, and on both Canary and Balearic archipelagos (Mateos et al. 2012, 2013; Mateos 2013). In locations where the alpine ranges meet the sea the landscape is characterized by a rugged coast, rockfalls and large landslides are the predominant mechanism (Corominas et al. 2017). Rockfalls are also frequently associated with slope cuts for roads, Page 3 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 railway, quarries and other engineering works (for example, canals and dam abutments). Rockfall triggers in Spain Earthquake-induced rockfalls have the highest impacts at regional scale. One of the deadliest rockfall episodes in Spain occurred during the Andalusian earthquake of December 25, 1884 within the Baetic range. Most of the casualties in the villages were due to the collapse of the buildings. However, in Alhama de Granada, Ventas de Zafarraya and Albuñuelas a high number of fatalities were caused by rockfalls and landslides (Vidal 2011; El Hamdouni et al. 1997) although the exact number cannot be specified. Rainfall-induced rockfalls are ubiquitous in Spain. In the Eastern Pyrenees, a sort of multi-annual cyclicity in the occurrence of landslides and rockfalls, has been identified related to wetter periods (Corominas and Moya 1999; Corominas et al. 2017). In the Tramuntana range (Balearic Islands), Luque-Espinar et al. (2017) applied a spectral analysis to predict rainfall induced landslides, 70% of which correspond to rockfalls. They obtained a good correlation between North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) cycles and winter rainfall that matched the distribution of landslides recorded between 1954 and 2015. Rockfall occurrence in Spain also shows a seasonal pattern. In the coastal mountains of Catalonia, the Eastern Pyrenees and the Iberian range the pattern differs from the rest of Spain. In these ranges, slope failures are mainly concentrated in autumn (October and November). In the Baetic system and Cenozoic basins, slope failures predominate in winter and spring. In the Cantabrian range, activity takes place throughout the year, but with greater intensity at the end of summer-beginning of autumn, late autumn-beginning of winter and late spring-beginning of summer. In both the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, rockfalls are mainly concentrated in the winter months (Leyva et al. 2022; Melillo et al. 2020; Santos et al. 2024; Rius and Aguiló 2022). On Mallorca island winter 2008–2009 was remarkable, as it was the coldest and wettest winter in a 40 year-period. A total of up to 296mm of rain was recorded in 24h while the annual total was twice the average in coincidence with anomalous, low temperatures, with abundant snowfall and freeze-thaw events in the highest zones of the Tramuntana range. In this episode, fourteen rockfalls and one rock avalanche Fig. 1 Main morphostructural units of Spain and Portugal: outer alpine ranges (light green) inner alpine ranges (dark green), Hercynian basement (grey), Cenozoic basins (yellow), and volcanic islands (orange). Adapted from Corominas et al. (2017) Page 4 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 were recorded, amongst other landslides (Mateos et al. 2012). In all the mountain ranges, rockfalls are less frequent in late spring and summer. The relationship of the occurrence of fatal rockfalls with the seasonality of rainfall and the wettest periods will be discussed in Sects.6 and 7, respectively. Fatal rockfall inventories in Spain As aforementioned, there is neither a complete inventory of fatal rockfalls in Spain nor a reasonable estimate of their consequences. The reasons are diverse. First, these are local phenomena that, unlike other natural processes such as earthquakes or floods, affect a limited territorial area. This makes them hard to detect. Then, when rockfalls are triggered by major catastrophic events such as heavy rains or earthquakes, they appear to be integrated into the set of general damage, without distinction. Furthermore, rockfalls mostly occur in sparsely populated mountainous areas and often remain unnoticed. For all these reasons, their relevance and impact are difficult to quantify. However rockfalls cause the greatest number of victims in Spain. So far, data available in Spain refer to all types of slope instability. Ayala (2002) estimated that, on average, landslides, rockfalls and snow avalanches produce about 6 deaths per year. Several regional inventories have also been drawn up, which are mostly focused on the hazard rather on the consequences. For example, in the Asturias region, an exhaustive inventory was prepared mainly through searching local newspaper archives (Domınguez-Cuesta et al. 1999). Valenzuela et al. (2017) enriched this inventory (BAPA database) and analyzed a total of 2,063 slope failures (landslides, debris flows, rockfalls), covering the period between 1980 and 2015. The registered rockfalls were 112. In Gran Canaria the Road Maintenance Service inventoried 128 significant rockfalls which affected the GC-200 road over the period 2010–2016 (Sarro et al. 2020). Until now, the most complete and spatially representative landslide database in Spain is the “Base de Datos de Movimientos del Terreno (BDMOVES)”, created by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME). This database records all kind of slope instability mechanisms including damage and victims and it is available at: h t t p s : / / i n f o . i g m e . e s / B D M o v e s / (last accessed on 23 January 2025). In total 1082 rockfalls are included. The earliest recorded rockfall event took place at in 1683 in Albelda de Iregua (La Rioja) without fatalities. For the period 1803 to 2021, BDMOVES contains a total of 784 rockfall events. From them, we have incorporated 63 cases with victims into our database. Materials and methods The procedure that we have followed for compiling the fatal rockfall inventory consisted in searching newspaper archives and other documentary sources since 1803, which resulted in a total of 1,118 events. The inventory is summarized in an Excel sheet accessible in open format on the CORA-dataset (Corominas et al. 2023). The information contained in the file includes the date of occurrence, locality, administrative region, context, vulnerable element, number of deaths, injuries and the documentary source. The collected data come from various sources: 85% of our entries are from newspapers, 9% are from published scientific literature, 4% are from the BDMOVES database (IGME) and almost 2% from other sources. Fundamentally, the sources are newspaper archives of the general daily press such as La Vanguardia (from 1 February 1881 to the present) and ABC (from 1 January 1903), which account for 68% of the records. The others are from twelve regional and local newspapers distributed throughout the country, including El Correo, El Norte de Castilla, El Diario Montañés or El ideal de Granada. Thematic collections such as those of railway accidents (FCMAF, sd) drawn from a range of media were also consulted. The search criteria were based on the use of keywords (in Spanish) such as “rockfall”, “earth fall”, “stone fall”, “hillside collapse”, “rockfall + dead”, “rockfall + buried” and “rockfall + catastrophe”. The inventory suffers several limitations, starting with the description of the event. The written press often labels as rockfall (“desprendimiento” in Spanish) events that actually could be another type of landslide. The events were revised based on the description of the incidents but uncertainties remain. Regarding the descriptions of the oldest rockfall reports that involved a large number of people (villages, trains), there is confusion and disparity in the number and condition of the casualties. Sometimes, the definitive number of fatalities cannot be determined from the available sources. The level of severity in the descriptions is also highly variable when it exists. For this reason, we considered the categories of “severely or seriously injured” when it is clearly stated, “other injuries” as those with moderate, minor wounds, and unspecified. People buried without further information have been included in the section of “other injuries”. Further uncertainty results from the occurrence of deaths days or even weeks after the event. In most cases, there was no follow-up on the condition of the injured people and whether they eventually died or recovered. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that a certain proportion of these people died, but we could not quantify them even roughly. An added limitation is that in catastrophic events, telegrams follow one another and there are repetitions in the number and condition of the casualties. Despite these drawbacks, given the consistent Page 5 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 and continuous information provided by extensive press coverage, this inventory includes all the important events and can be considered as the most complete and reliable, available inventory for rockfall casualties in Spain up to date. We have grouped the inventoried events in five different contexts for their analysis: (a) rockfalls affecting isolated dwellings and villages. The casualties occur either by the direct impact of the rock blocks and/or the collapse of the buildings; (b) quarries (usually shallower than open pit mines) and large civil engineering excavations (e.g. dam abutments, canals); (c) railways; (d) road networks; and (e) the outdoor activities, which include coastal areas and mountain trails. Events with casualties that occurred in buildingfoundations, ditches and wells, and those produced in underground mines and tunnels have not been included in the analysis. Thus, the inventory covers also cases of rockfalls of anthropogenic origin, like other inventories that have already been published (e.g. Evans and Clague 1997; Garcia-Delgado et al. 2022; Strouth and McDougall 2021; Zhang et al. 2023). Roads and railways are infrastructures that interact with the natural environment. From the descriptions in the newspapers, it is often not possible to distinguish whether the events have their origin in the natural slope above the track or in the rock cuts excavated. In these two contexts, the rock failures generated in the natural slope and in the excavated cuts have been considered together. Finally, in order to analyze the seasonal distribution (Sect.6) and the multiannual trend (Sect.7) of fatal rockfalls, we have selected the subgroup of events between 1872 and 2021 (150 years) in which daily written press is available uninterruptedly. Results The inventory that we present in this paper analyzes a total of 1,118 cases of rockfalls responsible for more than 3700 casualties, for the period 1803–2021 (Figs.2 and 3, and Table1). A total of 41.5% of the casualties are fatalities (1,550 deaths) and the others are injuries of varying severity (2,184), with the following breakdown: 626 serious injuries, and 1,558 other injuries (of varying degrees). A total of 89% of the events have been georeferenced assigning each one to its corresponding municipality (Fig.2). The evolution over the years of fatal rockfalls and the number of deaths (Fig.3) shows that periods with higher and lower incidence alternate. However, the period with Fig. 2 Spatial distribution of fatal rockfall events (orange dots). Black dots with numbered labels correspond to the cases mentioned in Tables2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and in the text Page 6 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 the highest concentration of events and deaths (263) is that of 1926–1935 (average number of deaths per event is 1.65) which coincides with a period of positive precipitation anomaly, as it will be seen in the following section. After a period (between 1976 and 2005), in which both the number of events and victims decreased, the number of events has experienced a strong growth although the number of deaths has only grown moderately. The number of deaths per event, dropped from 1.9 deaths/event in the period 1926–1935 to 0.6 deaths/event in the period 2006–2015. It is important to note that Fig.3 does not show the distribution of total rockfalls, but rather the distribution of rockfalls that have caused casualties, that is, the personal risk distribution. The latter results from the combination of the occurrence of the natural process with the presence of exposed elements and their vulnerability. Thus, an increase in the number of rockfalls does not necessarily result in an increase in risk and vice versa. In order to better assess the interaction between the rockfalls and the exposed elements, we have proceeded to analyze the occurrence of fatal rockfalls for each of the context considered. Table1 shows the distribution of events and fatalities by context. It is interesting to note that, except for dwellings and villages, events with few fatalities dominate rockfall mortality. Thus, events that caused one or two deaths are responsible for 42.1% of total fatalities. This percentage increases up to 60% if events that caused 5 deaths or less are considered. This pattern is especially dominant in outdoor activities, such as mountain trails and coastal areas, where events with only one death account for 74% and 59% of total fatalities in these contexts. In the case of excavations and roads events with 1 or 2 deaths account for 60% and 65% respectively of total fatalities. At the opposite extreme are dwellings and villages where 54% of fatalities have occurred in events involving more than 10 deaths (13 cases). Fatalities on railways are more evenly distributed. In this context, events causing 1 or 2 deaths account for 32% of all fatalities, while those causing more than 10 deaths account for 36% of all fatalities. Rockfalls affecting dwellings and villages Despite the local nature of rockfalls, when they affect villages located underneath rock walls or cliffs, real catastrophes can occur. It is, by far, the context with the greatest number of deaths. The total number of victims was 577 dead and 266 injured (Table1). These events only represent 12.3% of the cases in the inventory, but they are responsible for over 37.2% of deaths and 21.4% of serious injuries. The average number of deaths per event is 4.6, which is the highest rate of the contexts considered. Table 1 Number of rockfalls with victims collected and their breakdown by the severity of the damage inflicted and the context, from 1803 to 2021. Values in bold correspond to maximum for each kind of victims # events Deaths Seriously injured Other injured Total victims Dwellings and villages 125 577 134 132 843 Quarries and excavations 275 418 109 111 638 Transportation infrastructure Railways 200 213 194 1005 1412 Roads 163 138 109 191 438 Mountain trails and coastal areas 212 150 52 106 308 Unspecified 43 54 28 13 95 TOTAL 1118 1550 626 1558 3734 Fig. 3 Temporal distribution of rockfall events and fatalities in Spain within the last 220 years Page 7 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 No relationship can be established between the size of the rockfall, the number of houses affected and the total number of victims. Although the houses were permanently exposed, the number of victims depend largely on the presence or absence of residents at the time of occurrence and the capacity of the buildings to withstand the impact of the rock blocks. The most appalling cases took place at night. Table2, presents the most relevant rockfall events documented since 1803 (see also their location in Fig.2). Some of these villages consist of buildings built around medieval castles, which offered protection to their inhabitants. The castles were built on rocky outcrops bordered by vertical walls that were difficult to access. In most cases, rockfalls have been a recurring process until efficient, affordable stabilization and protection techniques were made available. It was not until the middle of the last century that various affected Spanish municipalities were able to mobilize economic resources to mitigate the risk. This is the case of Azagra (Navarre). The village suffered several episodes, the first reported event occurring on 30 June 1856. On this date, a considerable part of the rock called “El Castillo” collapsed, destroying six houses and burying 11 people. On 21 July 1874, at dawn, a sizable part of the rock cliff collapsed, surprising a large part of the neighborhood in their sleep. The result was the destruction of 77 inhabited buildings with a total of 99 deaths. Alcalá de Jucar (Castile la Mancha) is a village with a long list of incidents. The first known reference is the event of 24 December 1803, when the cliff, that supported part of the castle’s foundation, fell off. A total of 30 houses were destroyed, leaving 26 dead, while 27 people were buried and rescued alive in the following three days (Rodríguez de la Torre 1997). The village has been threatened for a long time since other events are known in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. New fatal events followed in January 1880, April 1881 and December 1932 (López Sanz 2014). The last catastrophic event occurred on 19 December 1945, with 20 houses buried, 16 dead, 2 seriously injured and 40 injured to varying degrees. Recently, following the implementation of some protective works, rockfalls have continued to occur, fortunately of a smaller magnitude and without personal injury. Rockfalls have also led to the abandonment of villages. One notable case is that of Fuentes de Cesna (Andalusia). Its former location is known as Fuentes Viejas. According to the newspapers, on 4 February 1940, a 600m x 500m mass of sandstone and conglomerates collapsed onto the village, leaving a 3 m-thick mantle of debris. The volume was estimated at about 1 Mm3. In the event, 22 houses were destroyed with a balance of 19 dead and 4 seriously injured. The cause of the rockfall is attributed to intense and persistent rains. On 4 April 1963, rainfall caused further instability, which forced the displacement of 200 residents. In 1965, the new Fuentes de Cesna was built at a safer location. Rockfalls in quarries and excavations Rock quarries and gravel and clay pits have been a permanent source of accidents. So have the excavations of civil engineering works such as dam abutments. The inventory includes 275 events. This is the context with the highest percentage of events (27%) with a total of 418 deaths (27%) and 220 injuries of varying degrees (Table 1). Accidents occur in very different situations, from works that generate large cut heights and excavation volumes, to quarries of variable dimensions, and minor excavations carried out manually. It is the context in which the greatest number of events with victims are recorded, but with a moderate ratio of 1.52 deaths per event. In quarries and gravel pits, at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, it was common for the limited number of workers being the exposed population, to work shifts of up to 10 and 12h. The excavation methods were rudimentary and since they were temporary rock cuts, prevention measures were not normally implemented. The main accidents with victims took place in excavated abutments for dams and canals involving a large number of workers. One of the accidents with the highest number of victims occurred on 31 July 1972 during the excavation of the abutment of the Cedillo dam in Extremadura, in the Tajo river basin (Table3). It is estimated that approximately 50,000 m3 of rock and earth fell from a height of about 40m, resulting in 11 deaths and one injury. On 10 February 1982, a 20m-long trench detached during the works on the Tajo-Segura canal, in Lorca, Murcia, resulting in 7 victims. The risk of rockfalls also occurs in quarries. Despite quarries in Spain normally have small dimensions and a limited number of workers, rockfalls are one of the main causes of occupational mortality. A paradigmatic case is the Montjuïc mountain, the emblematic hill of Barcelona. Table 2 The five most relevant rockfalls events with victims (deaths and injuries) in dwellings and villages, in the period 1803–2021. Location of the event (ID) is shown in Fig.2 ID label Locality, region Date Destroyed houses Deaths Seriously injured 1Azagra, Navarre 21/07/1874 72 99 2Beas de Segura, Andalusia 25/04/1879 36 16 3Alcalá de Júcar, Castile la Mancha 24/12/1803 30 26 27 4Viana do Bolo, Galicia 27/12/1909 36 26 5Fuentes de Cesna, Andalusia 04/02/1940 22 19 4 Page 8 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 Despite its modest dimensions (191m high and an area of 360ha wide), it has witnessed numerous incidents. A total of 25 quarries were counted (Fig.4 shows one of them), distributed throughout the massif. Accidents periodically occurred in the quarries until they were finally closed in 1955 by the authorities which considered them too dangerous. In Montjuïc, a total of 42 fatalities and 36 injuries of various degrees were recorded in the period between 1849 and 1971 (Pinyol et al. 2022). Rockfalls on railways In the inventory, 19.6% of the events collected (200 events) are included in this context with a total of 213 dead and 1,199 injuries, which is the highest number of injuries of all the contexts analyzed (Table1). The reason is the high number of people exposed and the fact that most of victims are not due to the direct impact of the rock blocks but to the subsequent accident. The biggest catastrophes are associated with the derailment of convoys and/or crashed passenger carriages that get stuck or fall down an embankment or hillside. Thus, 36% of fatalities and 19% of serious injuries are due solely to the 5 events listed in Table4. These types of incidents are often followed by updates in the news and debates about safety of the infrastructure are generated. As mentioned, the event with the highest number of victims and described in great detail by the media is that of Ametlla de Mar (Catalonia). It took place in the middle of a rainy period on the night of 1 September 1926. At dawn, a train derailed as the result of a rockfall. The rockfall, with an extension of 50m, took place when the locomotive was passing, which ended up colliding with the slope cut. A retaining wall fell on two of the carriages. The reason for the high number of victims was due to the fact that the carriages became embedded with each other. Rockfalls on roads Road accidents accounted for 138 fatalities and 109 serious injuries, contributing to 438 total victims, a relatively lower proportion compared to other contexts such as railways or dwellings (Table1). The most critical stretches correspond to gorges, which are frequent in the main mountain ranges (Fig.6), in which the route layout runs for kilometers exposed to rockfalls. In the Pyrenees, Terradets and Collegats are known in the Noguera Pallaresa River, Tres Ponts in the Segre River, the Ventamillo gorge in the Ésera River, and the Hermida Gorge in Table 3 The five most relevant rockfalls events with victims (deaths and injuries) in quarries and during excavations, in the period 1803–2021. Location of the event (ID) is shown in Fig.2 ID label Locality, region Date Deaths Seriously injured Other injured 6Cabila de Tensaman, Melilla 01/08/1930 16 3 7Cedillo dam, Extremadura 31/07/1972 11 1 8Lorca, Murcia 10/02/1982 7 9Abelenda quarry, Galicia 03/09/1957 6 2 10 Construcción en los altos Izbor, Andalusia 14/02/1933 6 Table 4 The five most relevant railway accidents with victims, caused by rock and Earth falls, in the period 1803–2021. Location of the event (ID) is shown in Fig.2 ID label Location, region Date context Deaths Seriously injured Other injured 11 Ametlla de Mar, Catalonia 01/09/1926 operating 24 20 130 12 Filgueira-Frieira,Galicia 10/03/1915 operating 18 15 21 13 Villagonzalo, Extremadura 12/10/1921 operating 12 76 14 Pindueles, Asturias 03/08/1988 operating 11 1 18 15 Laxosa, O Corgo, Galicia 01/08/1882 construction 11 Fig. 4 Sandstone quarry on Montjuïc mountain, Barcelona in the early 1900s. Fhotography of Josep Brangulin, courtesy of National Archive of Catalonia Page 9 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 the Deva River, in Cantabria. Table5 shows the accidents with the highest number of victims. Similarly, as in the case of trains, the cases with the highest number of victims are due to the accident caused by the rockfall and not by the direct impact of the rock blocks. The largest number of victims (dead and injured) is due to accidents involving collective transport vehicles. In the accidents that occurred on the road from Ronda to San Pedro de Alcántara in 1978 and from Estrada to Silleda in 1992 (Table5), the rockfall caused a bus to go off the road and plunge into the river. Rockfalls in outdoor activities Outdoor environments recorded 150 fatalities and 52 serious injuries, comprising 8.2% of the total victims in this study. High mountains and river gorges are locations affected by frequent rockfalls. The record also includes few cases of victims such as farmers or shepherds who did not practice outdoor activities. The available statistics of fatal rockfall are probably incomplete because in the early records the cause of mountain accidents and in particular the occurrence of a rock block impact was rarely stated. As mountain hiking is an activity that is carried out individually or in small groups that are in movement, the number of people affected in each accident is very small. The fatality rate is 0.7 deaths per event, the lowest amongst all the contexts (Table6). The total number of accidents recorded in outdoor activities represents 20.8% of our inventory (172 on mountain trails and 40 in coastal areas) and 9.7% of fatalities. The geographical distribution is very characteristic and differs from that observed in other contexts (Fig.2; Table6). Over 24% of victims in mountain trails occur in the Pyrenees. It should be noted that 16% of all fatalities on mountain trails occurred in the Pyrenees of Aragon, a very popular destination for mountaineers. The AsturLeonese sector of the Cantabrian mountain range, the Leonese part of the Cantabrian mountain range, concentrates 13% of fatalities not only due to its peaks but also due to the popularity of trails such as the Cares trail, which receives more than 200,000 visitors each year, and up to 3,000 visitors a day. There is also a notable hiking activity that has led to various accidents near tourist destinations that are known for their beaches. Thus, Alicante coast (number 1 in Fig.9), the Balearic and Canary Islands, account for 16.3% of accidents with victims on mountain trails. In coastal areas (Fig. 5), two rockfalls stand out, with four deaths each (Table6). In both, people were at the beach for leisure. One occurred in 1961 in Torremolinos (Andalusia) and the other 24 years later, in 1985 in Cádiz (Andalusia). Investment in stabilization and protection against rockfalls It is impossible to correctly interpret the temporal evolution of the fatalities-injuries and material losses due to rockfalls without taking into consideration the investment in stabilization and protection measures. This Table 5 The most relevant accidents with victims caused by rockfalls on roads, in the period 1803–2021. Location of the event (ID) is shown in Fig.2 ID label Location, region Date Deaths Injuries Comment 16 Bridge in Pomar, Cantabria 27/06/1803 9 During construction. 24,000m3 collapse 17 Gerri de la Sal, Catalonia 09/09/1902 8 3 During construction 18 Road N-640 Estrada-Silleda, Galicia 25/06/1992 5 30 Bus falls down the river 45m below 19 Toro, Castile and Leon 06/12/1965 5 Two consecutive events 20 Ronda, San Pedro de Alcántara, Andalusia 04/12/1978 4 16 Bus falls down the river Table 6 The most relevant accidents in the natural environment with victims caused by rockfalls, in the period 1803–2021. Above: coastal areas (beaches and coastal cliffs). Below: mountain trails (hiking and other activities) Context outdoor activities ID label Location, region Date Deaths Injuries Comment Coastal areas 21 Beach Fuente de la Salud, Torremolinos, Andalusia 09/07/1961 4 22 Beach Santa María del Mar, Andalusia 21/07/1985 4 1 23 Cala Sa Nau, Felanitx, Balearic Islands 14/04/2021 2 Mountain trails 24 Xixona, Valencia 27/02/1913 3 25 Santa Margarida de Montbui, Catalonia 06/01/1930 3 26 Sant Joan de Fàbregues, Catalonia 18/10/1940 3 27 Serra del Cadí, Catalonia 19/12/1993 3 Rescue helicopter hit by a rockfall 28 Pico el Jiso, Asturias 22/04/2017 3 Page 16 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 the period 1972–1981 saw more injuries, but spread over 13 incidents. The number of fatalities in railway accidents caused by rockfalls has been decreasing over time (Fig. 12), although not as much as it would be expected considering the investments made over decades in the stabilization of rock cuts. In the first years of railway operation, rockfalls were frequent. Over the years the slopes have been reinforced and protected and warning systems and braking devices have been installed in case of catenary breakage. This has improved safety. However, protecting long hauls through narrow gorges exposed to a diffuse rockfall hazard from difficult-to-access slopes continues to be a challenge. Roads The number of fatal events collected on roads is 218, resulting in 399 victims (1.8 victims per accident on average). The temporal distribution of the number of fatal rockfalls on roads shows marked variability, with a substantial increase over the last three decades (Fig.13). It is not possible to assign the increase in fatal rockfalls in road traffic to a single cause. One reason is the improvement of information thanks to the appearance of digital media and social networks. The written press usually reports accidents with deaths but rarely those that only result in injuries. The emergence of digital local press over the last 20 years has facilitated the access to information that would otherwise have gone unnoticed in the main nation-wide newspapers. On the other hand, the vast majority of events occur in mountain roads, including those of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands. It is therefore logical to assume that the higher incidence is due to the increase in traffic on the most dangerous mountain road sections (Table8). Thus, traffic in the Escuer gauge station in the access to the Central Pyrenees quadrupled between 1980 and 2021 (from 1,427 to 5,801 vehicles/day respectively). We should consider in 2021 in Spain there were still mobility limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A similar situation is found in the access to the main touristic locations in the Cantabrian range such as Panes gauge station (from 130 to 4,446 vehicles/day between 1988 and 2021) or in Pont de Suert in the access to the Eastern Pyrenees (from 1993 to 3,869 vehicles/day between 1980 and 2021). The increase in the number of victims contrasts with the investment made by the administration in mitigation measures against rockfalls and the execution of road bypasses as mentioned in the previous section. This apparent lack of effectiveness of the set of preventive actions has been observed on other mountain roads (Weidner and Walton 2021). In any case, the trend of increasing accidents highlights the difficulty of risk management on roads that cross mountain ranges following the course of the main river valleys. These are stretches affected by a diffuse hazard originated far above the road and with innumerable source areas. Fig. 12 Evolution of the number of victims in railway accidents caused by rockfalls grouped by decades. Vertical dashed blue lines represent the wettest periods according to Fig.8 Page 17 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 Outdoor activities The distribution of rockfalls by decades shows a substantial increase in the number of fatal events and the number of victims (Fig.14). The increase in the number of events in this case cannot be associated to the precipitation periods. The average annual precipitation in the Pyrenees as a whole (average of the 26-climate series analyzed) shows a statistically significant decreasing trend for the period 1959–2023 of -1.9% per decade, an increase of 1.9ºC of the mean annual temperature and an annual reduction of 18 freezing days (Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory 2023). The only reasonable explanation of fatal rockfalls in mountains is the increase in visitors (elements exposed). There exists a mountaineering tradition for over 100 years in Spain but the expansion of outdoor activities and practitioners have only emerged in recent decades. In the period 2010–2019, the number of mountain sports federations has almost doubled, growing from 139,325 to 248,406 (https://es.statista.com). The n u m b e r of visitors to the natural reserves in Spain increased by 72% between 1996 and 2019, from 8.8 to 15.2million people respectively, according to the Spanish Ministry of ecological transition and demographic challenge. Unlike in urban areas, mountaineering activity is subject to diffuse hazard that is not feasible to manage and is usually practiced at the user’s own risk. The possibilities of reversing the increase in fatalities are limited. Education about mountains and their risks and self-protection is a useful but insufficient tool. On some popular trails the administration has carried out some initiatives such as signaling the most dangerous areas, issuing recommendations and replacing damaged elements. On Table 8 Evolution of the average daily traffic (ADT) of five stations located in the mountain roads of Spain (Ministerio de Fomento 2021). Year 2020 is excluded due to the pandemic lock-down ADT by years Mountain Range Station 1980 1990 2000 2010 2019 2021(*) Cantabrian range Panes 1,684 3,470 4,035 4,268 4,446 Potes 3,288 3,533 3,820 3,749 3,757 Eastern Pyrenees Pont Suert 1,993 3,487 4,669 4,140 4,958 3,869 Sort 1,644 2,742 3,356 3,780 3,228 Central Pyrenees Escuer 1,427 2,808 4,298 5,058 6,051 5,801 Fig. 13 Evolution of the number of victims of road accidents caused by rockfalls. grouped by decades. Vertical dashed blue lines represent the wettest periods according to Fig.8 Page 18 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 occasions it has been decided to temporarily close the accesses, without much success. This is the case of the Barranco del Infierno on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands). Access to the gorge was closed in 2010 after a deadly rockfall. The access was reopened 5 years later and after having carried out safety and signposting work. However, just a few months after the reopening a new rockfall caused the loss of another life. In a similar way to rock falls in mountain areas, the number of accidents on beaches and coastal cliffs has increased significantly in recent decades. The reason must be sought in the presence of tourists on the Spanish coast, which has increased from 0.2M in 1938 to 85M in 2023 (Turespaña 2023) (Fig.15). Fig. 15 Evolution of the number of victims caused by rockfalls in coastal areas. grouped by decades. Vertical dashed blue lines represent the periods of major precipitations according to Fig.8 Fig. 14 Evolution of the number of victims caused by rockfalls on mountain trails (hiking and other activities) grouped by decades. Vertical dashed blue lines represent the wettest periods according to Fig.8 Page 19 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 The possibility of reversing this upward trend is more likely than in the case of mountain activities. Over the last 20 years, regional administrations have made a significant investment effort in signposting, implementation of protective systems and cliff stabilization. The results should be visible in a few years. Final remarks To the knowledge of the authors, worldwide, there is a lack of specific studies on the analysis of rockfall fatalities over time, as rockfall consequences are typically included into the impacts of landslides in general. Thus, the patterns of loss of life due to rockfalls have not been studied separately for comparison with this study. By reason of this gap, the results of this work are compared to the patterns which have been observed for landslides and related natural disasters in general. In is contribution, we present the first comprehensive catalogue of fatal rockfalls in Spain since 1803. The catalog was compiled from events reported in the national daily press that has been published uninterruptedly since the last quarter of the 19th century. It was supplemented with information drawn from local newspapers, chronicles, books and websites (articles, gray literature and web resources). The spatio-temporal distribution of fatal rockfalls and their consequences over a period of 150 years (1872–2021) is specifically analyzed. The resolution of the catalog has made it possible to examine the temporal trends of rockfalls according to the context in which they occur. Our inventory increases our understanding of the social impact of rockfalls in Spain. The number of annual victims (> 10) greatly exceeds the figures known to date for all landslide types (Ayala 2002). Our inventory allowed us to assess the contribution of mortality from small events. In the first part of the inventory (before 1872), many of these events probably went unnoticed. Instead, we consider that the compilation since 1872 is reasonably complete. The analysis of the impact of events with few victims (less than 5) in Spain showed that their impact is as important as that of large, infrequent catastrophic rockfalls. In particular, events that have caused 1 or 2 deaths are responsible for 42.1% of total fatalities. This percentage increases to 60% if events that caused up to 5 deaths are included. This observation contrasts with results from global studies suggesting that large events dominate mortality statistics (Petley et al. 2005). The largest number of rockfalls take place in the wettest seasons (late autumn and winter) and occur in greater numbers during wet year cycles. Fatal rockfalls affecting dwellings, roads and railroads follow a similar pattern, but this does not apply to the rest of the contexts. The database shows a high level of variability in the occurrence of fatal rockfalls from year to year, but the overall trend of fatalities is downward. In our case, the reduction is not visible in all the contexts analyzed, as an increase in fatal accidents in the natural environment is observed. Factors such as the investment made by the administrations to mitigate the risk and the increase in exposure play a relevant role. Our study suggests that, in Spain, the urban and population growth as well as the development of communication infrastructures has not led to an increase in fatal rockfalls as it occurs in other geographical environments (Petley 2010). In the last 150 years the population has tripled; the railway network was first constructed in 1848 and it currently extends over 15,000km. While the road network that in 1900 measured only 36,000km and was used mainly by animal-powered vehicles has expanded to exceed 165,000km at present. However, our study shows that the incidence of fatal rockfalls has decreased overall. The risk of rockfalls to people has been significantly reduced in built-up areas and dwellings located beneath cliffs and steep rock walls. We attribute this decline mainly to the stabilization and protection tasks carried out in recent decades. Villages that have historically suffered rockfalls are more protected thanks to mitigation works. This trend was also observed by Shinohara and Kume (2022) in Japan. It contrasts with the upward trends in landslide casualties observed in other latitudes (Garcia-Delgado et al. 2022). A declining trend was observed in railway sections due also to slope stabilization works and to the safety systems that detect incidents in the catenary or tracks. However, these improvements do not reach the entire extensive railway network and accidents continue to occur although with lesser consequences. Similarly, a decrease in accidents in quarries is observed, associated with the improvement of excavation systems and safety measures implemented. These are sufficiently eloquent figures to justify the investment efforts in prevention and protection that are being carried out by administrations and authorities. In the context of roads, significant mitigation efforts have been undertaken to reduce the number and risk of rockfalls. However, the intensification in traffic, particularly on mountain roads, has substantially increased exposure. For this reason, the investment effort has not resulted in a reduction of risk globally in the country. There are two reasons for this: the increase in the length of the road network (almost 20% in the last 50 years) but, above all, the increase in road traffic, particularly on mountain roads. The seasonal distribution of rockfall deaths in outdoor activities (mountain trails and coastal areas) differs substantively from the distribution of rockfall mortality in other contexts. The increase in accidents with victims Page 20 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 follows a pattern that is directly related to human presence. Accidents are mainly concentrated in the summer season, which coincides with the holiday period. Summer is the season with the least precipitation and, consequently, the least number of rockfalls. This increase in accidents can only be explained by the increase in exposure. A similar explanation was proposed by Ayala et al. (2003) to justify the significant increase in victims of snow avalanches in winter in the Pyrenean area. In the last 20 years, fatal rockfalls in the natural environment have accounted for 55% of the deaths and 31% of the serious injuries. It is foreseeable that this trend will continue in the future due to the increase in the number of visitors and the difficulty of implementing risk mitigation measures. especially in high mountains. The effect of climate change on rockfalls is still unknown. The small extent of permafrost in the highest mountain ranges of the peninsula suggests that its disappearance will not significantly affect the frequency of failures. However, the increase in intense precipitation events will be a factor that will favor a higher incidence. This trend is observed in Peruccacci et al. (2023) for landslides in Italy. Author contributions Conceptualization: J.C.; methodology: all the co-authors; data compilation: J.C., N.L. and M.A.N.; software N.L. and M.A.N.; formal analysis: all the co-authors; data curation all the co-authors; writing—original draft preparation J.C.; writing—review and editing all the co-authors; funding acquisition and project administration N.L. and M.A.N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Funding This work was supported by the Georisk project “Advances in rockfall quantitative risk analysis (QRA) incorporating developments in geomatics (GeoRisk)”, grant number PID2019-103974RB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI/ h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 3 0 3 9 / 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 3, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of Spain. Data availability No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study. Declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Received: 8 August 2024 / Accepted: 5 March 2025 References AEMET (sd) (last access February 2024) h t t p s : / / w w w . a e m e t . e s / c a / i d i / c l i m a / r e g i s t r o s _ c l i m a t i c o s Aristizábal E, López S, Sánchez O et al (2019) Evaluación de La Amenaza Por movimientos En Masa detonados Por Lluvias Para Una región de Los Andes Colombianos Estimando La probabilidad espacial. Temporal. Y magnitud. Rev Bol Geol 41:85–105. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 8 2 7 3 / r e v b o l . v 4 1 n 3 - 2 0 1 9 0 0 4 Ayala FJ (2002) Análisis de Riesgos Por movimientos de Ladera. En: F.J. Ayala y J. Olcina cantos (coordinadores). Riegos Naturales. Editorial Ariel, Barcelona Ayala FJ, Elízaga E, González de Vallejo Ll et al (1987) Impacto económico y social de los riesgos geológicos en España. IGME, Madrid Ayala FJ, Olcina J, Vilaplana JM (2003) Impacto económico y estrategias de mitigación de Los Riesgos naturales En España En El período 1990–2000. Fundación Mapfre estudios. Gerencia de riesgos y Seguros XXI, pp 17–29 Ayala-Carcedo FJ (2004) A risk analysis and sustainability approach to natural disaster assessment and mitigation philosophy in the world. In: Casale R, Margottini C (eds) Natural disasters and sustainable development. Environmental science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. h t t p s : / / d o i - o r g . r e c u r s o s . b i b l i o t e c a . u p c . e d u / h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / 9 7 8 - 3 - 6 6 2 - 0 8 9 0 5 - 7 _ 1 7 Badoux A, Andres N, Techel F, Hegg C (2016) Natural hazard fatalities in Switzerland from 1946 to 2015. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 16:2747–2768. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / n h e s s - 1 6 - 2 7 4 7 - 2 0 1 6 Barrera-Escoda A, Llasat CM (2015) Evolving flood patterns in a Mediterranean region (1301–2012) and climatic factors–the case of Catalonia. Hydro Earth Syst Sci 19(1):465–483. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / h e s s - 1 9 - 4 6 5 - 2 0 1 5 Collins BD, Stock GM (2016) Rockfall triggering by cyclic thermal stressing of exfoliation fractures. Nat Geosci. 9:395–400. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 3 8 / n g e o 2 6 8 6 Corominas J, Moya J (1999) Reconstructing recent landslide activity in relation to the rainfall in the Llobregat river basin, Eastern Pyrenees. Spain Geomorphology 30:79–93. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / S 0 1 6 9 - 5 5 5 X ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 6 - X Corominas J, Mateos R, Remondo J (2017) Review of landslide occurrence in Spain and its relation to climate. Ho. K. Lacasse. S. Picarelli. L. Eds. CRC, Leiden. The Netherlands Corominas J, Lantada N, Núñez-Andrés MA (2023) Inventario de desprendimientos de rocas en España desde 1800 a 2021. Available at: h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 3 4 8 1 0 / d a t a 2 3 8, CORA. Repositori de Dades de Recerca, V2 Cruden DM, Varnes DJ (1996) Landslide types and processes. In: Turner AT. Schuster RL (eds) Landslides—investigation and mitigation. Transportation Research Board Special Report no.247.National Academy Press. Washington. DC D’Amato J, Hantz D, Guerin A, Jaboyedoff M, Baillet L, Mariscal A (2016) Influence of meteorological factors on rockfall occurrence in a middle mountain limestone cliff. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 16(3):719–735. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / n h e s s - 1 6 - 7 1 9 - 2 0 1 6 Delonca A, Gunzburger Y, Verdel T (2014) Statistical correlation between meteorological and rockfall databases. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 14(8):1953–1964. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / n h e s s - 1 4 - 1 9 5 3 - 2 0 1 4 Domınguez Cuesta MJ, Jiménez Sánchez M, Rodrıguez Garcıa A (1999) Press archives as Temporal records of landslides in the North of Spain: relationships between rainfall and instability slope events. Geomorphology 30:125–132. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / S 0 1 6 9 - 5 5 5 X ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 9 - 5 Draebing D, Krautblatter M (2019) The efficacy of frost weathering processes in alpine rockwalls. Geophys Res Lett 46:6516–6524 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 2 9 / 2 0 1 9 G L 0 8 1 9 8 1 El Hamdouni R, Irigaray C, Pérez J et al (1997) Exposición a Riesgos derivados de movimientos de ladera en el entorno de Albuñuelas (Granada). Incidencia de Las Lluvias de Noviembre a Enero de 1996/97. IV Simposio Nacional sobre Taludes y Laderas Inestables, Granada Evans SG (2018) Fatal landslides and landslide risk in Canada 1. Landslide risk assessment. Routledge, pp 185–196 Evans SG, Clague JJ (1997) The impact of climate change on catastrophic geomorphic processes in the mountains of British Columbia. Yukon and Alberta FCMAF (sd) Federación Castellano Manchega de Amigos del Ferrocarril. (last access January 2025) http://www.fcmaf.es Galán A (2016) La siniestralidad laboral en España, 1900–2010: un relato entre lo evidente y lo prioritario. PhD tesis. Departamento de Economía General y Estadística. Universidad de Huelva. 316 pp Garcia-Delgado H, Petley DN, Bermúdez MA, Sepúlveda SA (2022) Fatal landslides in Colombia (from historical times to 2020) and their socio-economic impacts. Landslides 19:1689–1716. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 0 3 4 6 - 0 2 2 - 0 1 8 7 0 - 2 Görüm T, Fidan S (2021) Spatiotemporal variations of fatal landslides in Turkey. Landslides 18:1691–1705. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 0 3 4 6 - 0 2 0 - 0 1 5 8 0 - 7 Grahn T, Jaldell H (2017) Assessment of data availability for the development of landslide fatality curves. Landslides 14:1113–1126. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 0 3 4 6 - 0 1 6 - 0 7 7 5 - 6 Guzzetti F (2000) Landslide fatalities and the evaluation of landslide risk in Italy. Eng Geol 58:89–107. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / S 0 0 1 3 - 7 9 5 2 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 4 7 - 8 Hungr O (2016) A review of landslide hazard and risk assessment methodology. Landslides and engineered slopes. Experience, theory and practice. 3–27 IGME (sd), Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. www.igme.es. Accessed 13 February 2025 Instituto Geográfico Nacional, IGN (2019) España en mapas. Una síntesis geográfica. Serie Compendios del Atlas Nacional de España (ANE). Madrid, Centro Page 21 of 21Corominas et al. Geoenvironmental Disasters (2025) 12:17 Nacional de Información Geográfica, 620 pp h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 7 4 1 9 / 1 6 2 . 0 6 . 2 0 1 8 ISTAC (sd) Instituto de estadística de Canarias. Available at: (last access February 2024) h t t p s : / / w w w . g o b i e r n o d e c a n a r i a s . o r g / i s t a c / Leyva S, Cruz-Pérez N, Rodríguez-Martín J, Santamarta JC (2022) Improving Infrastructure Management for Rockfalls During Rainfall Events. InInternational Workshop on Natural Hazards 2022 May 26 (pp. 77–80). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland López-Sanz G (2014) Alcalá del Júcar: Piedra, tierra y agua.1ª ed.–Albacete: Instituto de Estudios Albacetenses “Don Juan Manuel”, Serie I · Estudios · Número 217:p. 539. ISBN 978–84–96800–84–7 Luque-Espinar JA, Mateos RM, García-Moreno I, Pardo-Igúzquiza E, Herrera G (2017) Spectral analysis of climate cycles to predict rainfall induced landslides in the western Mediterranean (Majorca, Spain). Nat Hazards 89:985–1007. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 1 0 6 9 - 0 1 7 - 3 0 0 3 - 3 Mateos RM (2013) La Mallorca inestable. En: E.Alonso. J. Corominas. M. Hürlimann (Eds). VIII Simposio Nacional sobre Taludes y Laderas Inestables, Vol 1, pp:23–24. Palma de Mallorca (Spain). ISBN 978-84-941407-2-3 Available at: (last access March 2025) h t t p : / / c o n g r e s s 2 . c i m n e . c o m / s i m p o s i o t a l u d e s 2 0 1 3 / f r o n t a l / d o c / V o l _ 0 1 . p d f Mateos RM, García-Moreno I, Azañón JM (2012) Freeze–thaw cycles and rainfall as triggering factors of mass movements in a warm mediterranean region: the case of the Tramuntana range (Majorca. Spain). Landslides 9:417–432. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 0 3 4 6 - 0 1 1 - 0 2 9 0 - 8 Mateos RM, García-Moreno I, Herrera G, Mulas J (2013) Recent mass movements in the Tramuntana range (Mallorca. Spain). In: Margottini, C., Canuti, P., Sassa, K. (eds) Landslide Science and Practice. Springer, Berlin, HeidelbergVolume 4: Global Environmental Change. 27–35 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / 9 7 8 - 3 - 6 4 2 - 3 1 3 3 7 - 0 _ 3 Matsuoka N (2019) A multi-method monitoring of timing, magnitude and origin of rockfall activity in the Japanese alps. Geomorphology 336:65–76 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / j . g e o m o r p h . 2 0 1 9 . 0 3 . 0 2 3 Matsuoka N, Sakai H (1999) Rockfall activity from alpine Cliff during thawing periods. Geomorphology 28:309–328. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / S 0 1 6 9 - 5 5 5 X ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 1 6 - 0 Melillo M, Gariano SL, Peruccacci S, Sarro R, Mateos RM, Brunetti MT (2020) Rainfall and rockfalls in the Canary Islands: assessing a seasonal link. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 20(8):2307–2317. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / n h e s s - 2 0 - 2 3 0 7 - 2 0 2 0 Ministerio de Fomento (2021) Datos históricos de tráfico desde 1960 en las estaciones de aforo. Dirección General de Carreteras. Available at: (last access February 2024) h t t p s : / / w w w . t r a n s p o r t e s . g o b . e s / c a r r e t e r a s / t r a fi c o - v e l o c i d a d e s - y - a c c i d e n t e s - m a p a - e s t i m a c i o n - y - e v o l u c i o n / d a t o s - h i s t o r i c o s - d e - t r a fi c o - d e s d e - 1 9 6 0 - e n - l a s - e s t a c i o n e s - d e - a f o r o Pereira S, Zêzere JL, Quaresma I et al (2016) Mortality patterns of Hydro-Geomorphologic disasters: mortality patterns of Hydro-Geomorphologic disasters. Risk Anal 36:1188–1210. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 1 1 1 / r i s a . 1 2 5 1 6 Peruccacci S, Gariano SL, Melillo M et al (2023) The ITAlian rainfall-induced Landsl Ides C Atalogue. An extensive And accurate spatio-temporal catalogue of rainfall-induced landslides in Italy. Earth Syst Sci Data 15:2863–2877. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / e s s d - 1 5 - 2 8 6 3 - 2 0 2 3 Petley DN (2010) On the impact of climate change and population growth on the occurrence of fatal landslides in South, East and SE Asia. Q J Eng Geol Hydrogeol. 43:487–496. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 1 4 4 / 1 4 7 0 - 9 2 3 6 / 0 9 - 0 0 1 Petley DN, Dunning SA, Rosser NJ (2005) The analysis of global landslide risk through the creation of a database of worldwide landslide fatalities. In: Hungr O, Fell R, Couture R, Eberhardt E (eds) Landslide risk management. AT Balkema, Amsterdam, pp 367–374 Petley DN, Hearn GJ, Hart A et al (2007) Trends in landslide occurrence in Nepal. Nat Hazards 43:23–44. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 1 0 6 9 - 0 0 6 - 9 1 0 0 - 3 Petrucci O (2022) Landslide fatality occurrence: A systematic review of research published between January 2010 and March 2022. Sustainability 14:9346. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 3 3 9 0 / s u 1 4 1 5 9 3 4 6 Pinto P, Reyes-Carmona C, Pereira S, Sarro R, Martínez-Corbella M, Coll-Ramis MA, Zêzere JL, Mateos RM (2024) Seasonal rockfall risk analysis in a touristic Island: application to the Tramuntana range (Mallorca, Spain). Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 101:104264. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / j . i j d r r . 2 0 2 4 . 1 0 4 2 6 4 Pinyol J, González M, Martí V, Ruiz-Carulla R (2022) Els moviments de vessant a la ciutat de Barcelona. El cas paradigmàtic de la muntanya de Montjuïc. Monogr Tècnica 11 Geol Ciutat Barcelona.Catalan article 16:283–296. Available at: (last access March2024) h t t p s : / / w w w . i c g c . c a t / b d / p u b s / i c g c _ m t _ 1 1 _ g e o l o g i a _ b a r c e l o n a . p d f Pyrenean Climate Change Observatory (2023) Climate change indicators Bulletin for the Pyrenees 2021/2023. (last access January 2024) h t t p s : / / w w w . o p c c - c t p . o r g / e n / c o n t e n i d o / c l i m a t e - b u l l e t i n - b i c c p i r Ravanel L, Deline P (2010) Climate influence on rockfalls in high-Alpine steep rockwalls: the North side of the Aiguilles de Chamonix (Mont blanc massif) since the end of the little ice age. Holocene 21:357–365 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 1 7 7 / 0 9 5 9 6 8 3 6 1 0 3 7 4 8 8 7 Regmi D, Watanabe T (2009) Rockfall activity in the Kangchenjunga area, Nepal himalaya. Permafrost Periglac Process 20:390–398. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 2 / p p p . 6 6 4 Rius J, Aguiló R (2022) Caracterización de los desprendimientos rocsoso en las carreteras de la Sierra de Tramuntana de Mallorca. M. Hürlimann y N. Pinyol (eds) X Simposio Nacional sobre Taludes y Laderas Inestables, Granada (Spain), septiembre 2022 Rodríguez, de la Torre F (1997) La catástrofe del día de Nochebuena del año 1803 En Alcaládel Júcar. Revista de estudios albacetenses 41:159–192 Santos PP, Reyes-Carmona C, Pereira S, Sarro R, Martínez-Corbella M, Coll-Ramis MA, Zêzere JL, Mateos RM (2024) Seasonal rockfall risk analysis in a touristic Island: application to the Tramuntana range (Mallorca, Spain). Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 101:104264 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / j . i j d r r . 2 0 2 4 . 1 0 4 2 6 4 Sarro R, Maria Mateos R, Reichenbach P, Aguilera H, Riquelme A, Hernández-Gutiérrez LE, Martín A, Barra A, Solari L, Monserrat O, Alvioli M (2020) Geotechnics for rockfall assessment in the volcanic island of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). J Maps 16(2):605–613. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 8 0 / 1 7 4 4 5 6 4 7 . 2 0 2 0 . 1 8 0 6 1 2 5 Savi S, Comiti F, Strecker M (2021) Pronounced increase in slope instability linked to global warming: a case study from the Eastern European alps Earth surf. Process Land 46(7):1328–1347 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 2 / e s p . 5 1 0 0 Sepúlveda SA, Petley DN (2015) Regional trends and controlling factors of fatal landslides in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 15:1821–1833. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 5 1 9 4 / n h e s s - 1 5 - 1 8 2 1 - 2 0 1 5 Shinohara Y, Kume T (2022) Changes in the factors contributing to the reduction of landslide fatalities between 1945 and 2019 in Japan. Sci Total Environ 827:154392 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / j . s c i t o t e n v . 2 0 2 2 . 1 5 4 3 9 2 Strouth A, McDougall S (2021) Historical landslide fatalities in British Columbia. Canada: trends and implications for risk management. Front Earth Sci 9:606854. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 3 3 8 9 / f e a r t . 2 0 2 1 . 6 0 6 8 5 4 Turespaña (2023) Ministerio de Industria y Turismo de España. Gobierno de España. (last access February 2024) https://www.tourspain.es/es/ Valenzuela P, Domínguez-Cuesta MJ, Mora García MA, Jiménez-Sánchez M (2017) A spatio-temporal landslide inventory for the NW of Spain: BAPA database. Geomorphology 293:11–23. h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 1 6 / j . g e o m o r p h . 2 0 1 7 . 0 5 . 0 1 0 Vidal F (2011) El Terremoto de Alhama de Granada de 1884 y su impacto. Anuari Verdaguer 19–2011. Instituto Andaluz de Geofísica y Universidad de Granada Weidner L, Walton G (2021) Monitoring the effects of slope hazard mitigation and weather on rockfall along a Colorado highway using terrestrial laser scanning. Remote Sens 13(22):4584 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 3 3 9 0 / r s 1 3 2 2 4 5 8 4 Zhang S, Li C, Peng J, Zhou Y, Wang S, Chen Y, Tang Y (2023) Fatal landslides in China from 1940 to 2020: occurrences and vulnerabilities. Landslides 20(6):1243–1264 h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s 1 0 3 4 6 - 0 2 3 - 0 2 0 3 4 - 6 Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.