Removal of a part of rocks during the formation of natural slopes and artificial slopes leads to a decrease in the coefficient of lateral pressure in the near-slope zone and to a decrease in horizontal stresses in the adjacent two zones of the soil mass. This leads to an increase in deformations and, as a result, to subsidence due to plastic deformation and microshifts of structural bonds. At a number of sites, as a result of changes in the stress-strain state of rocks in the near-slope zone, accidents have been noted.
