R is for Rockfall

My theme for my 2015 A to Z Challenge came from my Disaster Crimes series. Disasters are a theme in each story, so it got me thinking about all the disasters that occur from natural disasters to manmade disasters.
Today’s disaster is...Rockfall
Rockfall is when rocks fall freely from cliff faces and bounce, roll, slide, or fall down vertical slopes. Weathering, ground and surface water, freeze-thaw, root-wedging, bedrock fractures, erosion, earthquakes, and tectonic stresses can cause rockfall. Sometimes the rocks falling from the cliff will dislodge other rocks, creating a mass wasting process much like an avalanche.
FACT:More than 1,000 rockfalls have occurred in Yosemite Valley in the past 150 years.
Image from geograph.org.uk
And another side to rockfall...

In 2013, two Utah Boy Scout leaders purposely toppled over an ancient rock formation in Goblin Valley State Park. When I heard about this I was shocked, because Boy Scouts are taught to honor nature. These two men found it terribly hilarious, though, and even filmed their “victory” and posted it on Facebook. On top of that, they were leading a group of teenage boys at the time.


Rockfall
Image from Wikipedia
The mushroom-shaped sandstone formation, they destroyed was over 170 million years old. Why did they do it? The Boy Scout leaders said they did it because they thought it was loose and feared it was dangerous. Anyone here buy that? When they destroyed the formation, they cheered.
I was going to add the video of it, but it's no longer on Youtube.

QUESTIONS: Have you ever witnessed rockfall? Could you condone these men for destroying the rock formation?

Disasters:A: AvalancheB: Blizzard and BlackoutC: CycloneD: Drought and Dust Storm
E: Earthquake
F: FloodG: Gas Explosion
H: Hailstorm
I: Ice Storm and Iceberg
J. Judgment DayK: Killings
L: Limnic Eruption and Lightning Storm
M: Mudslide
N: Nuclear Meltdown
O: Oil SpillP: Plague
Q: Quasar Explosion
R: Rockfall



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