A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the bedding plane of failure passes through intact rock and material collapses en masse and not in individual blocks. While a landslide occurs when loose dirt or sediment falls down a slope, a rockslide occurs only when solid rocks are transported down slope. The rocks tumble downhill, loosening other rocks on their way and smashing everything in their path. Fast-flowing rock slides or debris slides behave similarly to snow avalanches, and are often referred to as rock avalanches or debris avalanches. The term landslide refers to a variety of mass wasting events (geologic slope failures) that include slumps, slides, falls, and flows. The two major types of slides are rotational slides and translational slides. Rockslides are a type of translational event since the rock mass moves along a roughly planar surface with little rotation or backward tilting. Rock slides are the most dangerous form of mass-wasting due to the fact that they incorporate a sudden, incredibly fast-paced release of bedrock along a uniform plane of weakness.

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