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As crews continue to comb the rubble of Saturday's mudslide in Washington State, researchers
are already looking into what specifically happened to cause the disaster. At least 14
people were killed while more than a hundred have been reported missing after mud,
possibly produced by recent heavy rain, slid across part of State Route 530 near Oso.
More than 100 properties in all were hit by the cascading mud, but it's thought some of
these were part-time or holiday homes. The slide was so large is registered on a seismograph.
The size of it was staggering - measuring about 1500 feet wide and 600 feet tall. The slide
in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains piled mud, boulders and rubble up to 5 metres
in some places. It blocked the flow of the river, and there are now worries that this
could cause further flooding and more mudslides.
Resecuers are continuing to look for survivors, but authorities say they are hoping that many
of those reported missing would turn out to be survivors who were either double-counted
or slow in alerting loved ones and as to their whereabouts.