Straddling the cantons of Glarus and Graubünden, the geological curiosity of “Martinsloch”, listed as a UNESCO natural heritage site, was recently threatened by a major landslide. At the beginning of October, part of the mountain broke away, transforming the landscape without the inhabitants initially realizing it.
The Martinsloch, a real “window” in the rock, allows sunlight to illuminate the Elm village church at regular intervals.
This attraction attracts curious people from all over the world, but on October 3, an event almost changed the course of things. At 9:46 a.m., more than 10,000 m3 of rocks broke away from the crest of the “Gross Tschingelhorn”, information confirmed on Wednesday by the Swiss Seismological Service.
The first reactions from residents were late. Elm resident Hans Rhyner noticed that the mountain had changed in appearance. “I looked towards the Tschingelhorn and I noticed that it had a completely different look,” he explains, Wednesday in the 7:30 p.m. of the RTS. Anni Marti, also an Elm resident, recalls a similar experience: “Someone said to me, ‘Did you see that too?’ And I started looking up. ‘Oh yeah, that looks different.’
“Cause difficult to determine”
The peaks of this UNESCO World Heritage region are known for their instability. Currently, geologists, such as Thomas Buckingham, are trying to understand why this rock mass broke away. According to him, “the cause is difficult to determine. There is not one in particular. Up there, there are a lot of verrucano rocks, which are very unstable, having been broken during the formation of the Alps.”
This landslide has raised concerns among tourism stakeholders. Jasmin Schläpfer, head of the Elm region, expressed her relief at the survival of the “Martinsloch”: “In general, nature is transformed, that’s part of the game. But this is really special what happened.”
Although the “Martinsloch” has survived this time, it remains vulnerable.
Julien Guillaume/vajo
#Swiss
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