The town of Senerchia (Sele river valley - southern Apennines) lies in a tectonically active area close to the epicentre of the 1980 earthquake
(M=6.8). The slope south-cast of the town includes three major landslides, principally in structurally complex formations. The Serra dell' Acquara mudslide involves clays and marls of the Sicilide Unit and is 33 m deep at maximum. The 1980 earthquake remobilized it. Its left flank is bordered upslope by a detrital slab crossed by the crown of the Cimitero landslide, deep seated in the clayey units, which was not remobilized by the earthquake. In 1980 ground movements took place on this side of the slope shortly south of the slab. where more clayey soils outcrop, giving rise to the subsidiary Vadoncello landslide. Since 1980 this slope had not undergone significant deformations until 1993, except for some retrogression of the crown. On 29 December 1993 major movements started. giving rise to a significant extension of the Vadoncello landslide, which is currently still active (Figure 2). The development of this landslide has been under monitoring during I 995 and 1996 (Figure I) as part of a research project founded by the European Community (EEC 1996). Although shallow mudsliding downslope and crown retrogression at the top are the fastest processes on the slope, these are not che leading instability processes. They are related to deeper, although slower, soil deformations, which interact with the other landslide bodies, as briefly discussed in the following