The Fishing Dock landslide is effectively undated. While Yagoda-Biran et al. (2010) suggested that it is relatively young because the landslide scarp is still clearly visible today, its age is only broadly constrained to between about 60,000 years BP and recent times. The authors speculated that the landslide may have been triggered by one of the 749 CE Sabbatical Year earthquakes. Yagoda-Biran et al. (2010) also conducted a slope-stability back-analysis of the landslide and estimated that a local shaking intensity between 6.5 and 8.2 was required to initiate sliding. Their analysis demonstrated that the position of the water table strongly influences the results of the slope-stability back-analysis. When the water table was elevated and near to the surface, the slope was less stable and required weaker shaking to fail, with sliding predicted at intensities as low as about 6.5. When the water table was deeper, the slope was more stable and required stronger shaking, approaching an intensity of 8.2, to initiate sliding. The higher value corresponds to the water-table depth present at the time Yagoda-Biran et al. (2010) conducted their study.

Left - Fig. 8 - Aerial view of Fishing Dock landslide scar - Right - Fig. 8 - Cross section through the Fishing Dock landslide - Legend - sliding mass: diagonal pattern - sheared material: light grey - Cover Basait: dark grey - recent Ground Water Table: dashed line - Click on either image to open in a new tab - both images from Yagoda-Biran et al. (2010)