![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Jalalabad_Road_rock_fall.jpg/640px-Jalalabad_Road_rock_fall.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Rockfall
Rocks fallen freely from a cliff, roof, or quarry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the racehorse, see Rock Fall (horse).
A rockfall or rock-fall[1] is a quantity/sheets of rock that has fallen freely from a cliff face. The term is also used for collapse of rock from roof or walls of mine or quarry workings. "A rockfall is a fragment of rock (a block) detached by sliding, toppling, or falling, that falls along a vertical or sub-vertical cliff, proceeds down slope by bouncing and flying along ballistic trajectories or by rolling on talus or debris slopes."[2]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Jalalabad_Road_rock_fall.jpg/640px-Jalalabad_Road_rock_fall.jpg)
Alternatively, a "rockfall is the natural downward motion of a detached block or series of blocks with a small volume involving free falling, bouncing, rolling, and sliding". The mode of failure differs[how?] from that of a rockslide.[1]