As 2018 draws to a close, it's time to wrap up some geology-related stories that made it into the news, be it discoveries, strange events or natural disasters.

In January drone footage showed a large crack, 250 feet deep, forming on Rattlesnake Ridge, a mountain near the town of Union Gap, Yakima County in Washington State. At the time geologist were unsure of future developments, fearing a large landslide. Measurements of the movement pattern showed that since June 2018 the Rattlesnake Ridge landslide slowed down. On average, the slope is moving about six inches a week, far from the rate of about a foot and a half it was moving from January to May of this year. Monitoring continues, but experts are optimistic, hoping that if the slope stops technical measures may be applied to future reduce the risk of a landslide.

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