Norway Landslide – Satellite Assessment Shows Warnings and More

A landslide severely impacted a critical section of a highway and rail line. An earlier satellite assessment could have offered an early warning, and currently, it can identify similar risks nearby.

September 09, 2025

On the morning of Saturday, 30 August, a section of Norway’s E6 highway collapsed near Nesvatnet in Levanger after a suspected quick clay landslide. The collapse destroyed both lanes of the highway, the alternative road, and an intercity railway line.

The E6 is the country’s most important north–south transport artery, stretching more than 2,500 kilometres from Swedish border to Norway’s Far North. The road’s closure, along with the railway line running in parallel, will cause significant logistical disruption for commuters and freight operators due to long detours.

ValueSpace conducted a satellite-based movement analysis of the highway and rail infrastructure running along the shore of the Nesvatnet Lake. The assessment, based on a three-year timeline, showed the following:

Movement at landslide location

ValueSpace’s assessment shows that from August 2022 to August 2025 there is a clear movement cluster present with typical features of a slowly developing landslide at the exact site of the eventual failure.

Movement cluster preceding the landslide event, as identified by ValueSpace’s satellite-based analysis, and the detailed movement chart over the three-year period (inset).

  • The landslide was preceded by movement on the slope in the direction of the lake, with a velocity of up to 53 mm per year.

  • The movement cluster extended from the lakeshore over the railway up to the embankment of the E6 highway.

  • Detailed movement data show constant velocity over the analysis period, meaning it could have been identified by satellite-based analysis at least two years before of the collapse.

Additional movement cluster

ValueSpace’s analysis covered a 2.3-kilometre section of the E6 highway and rail infrastructure on the shore of the Nesvatnet Lake. The wider assessment identified a similar movement cluster about 900 metres south of the landslide site.

ValueSpace’s analysis shows the presence of an additional movement cluster (marked as cluster 2, bottom left) about 900 metres south of the landslide location, exhibiting a similar pattern (inset).

  • A movement cluster on the slope of the highway embankment, in the direction of the lake, with a velocity of up to 61 mm per year.

  • Detailed data show the same movement pattern over the analysis period and can likewise be indicative of a potential slowly developing landslide.

Given the proximity and corresponding characteristics of the additional movement cluster, it would be prudent for on-site engineers to verify the structural stability of the infrastructure and the underlying shoreline at this location.

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