Landslide

Landslide is the downslope movement of soil, rock and organic materials under the effects of gravity, which occurs when the gravitational driving forces exceed the frictional resistance of the material resisting on the slope. Landslides could be terrestrial or submarine (Varnes, 1978).

Landslides can be triggered by geological and physical causes such as glacier or snow melts, heavy rains and water pressure, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and overly steep slopes. Landslides can also be triggered by human action, the most common being building on unstable slopes. Submarine landslides, or massive slides and rock falls hitting the sea can also cause tsunamis.

Landslides can reach speeds of over 50 km/h and can bury, crush or carry away people, objects and buildings. Landslides cannot be predicted but warning systems measuring rainfall levels can provide warning to people living in landslide-prone areas.

Instrumental monitoring to detect movement and the rate of movement can be implemented, for example, extensometers, global positioning system (GPS), seismometers, aerial photography, satellite images, LiDaR (Highland and Bobrowsky, 2008) with varying degrees of success. Increasingly, the science of landslide physics is allowing the nature of these hazards to be understood, which is leading to better techniques through which they can be managed and mitigated (HIP).

Risk factors

  • Population growth
  • Rapid urbanization
  • Environmental degradation (deforestation and inappropriate use of lands and slopes)
  • High population density, heavy rainfall and rapid land use changes increase the instability of slopes

Risk reduction measures

  • Early warning systems to observe and alert before landslides happen
  • Hazard maps to identify landslides risk and vulnerabilities
  • Integrate landslide risk assessment into urban planning strategies
  • Building codes and standards for materials that reinforce landslide resilience
  • Improve drainage, building tunnels and trenches to stabilize slopes
  • Protect forest cover and regulate logging
  • Raise awareness of landslide risk
  • Regular drills and community evacuation exercises
  • Establish national, regional, and local evacuation plans

Latest Land Slide additions in the Knowledge Base

A laborer carries a sack of onions above floodwaters in Lahore, Pakistan
Research briefs
Research efforts on floods, droughts and landslides are not fairly distributed globally. Despite growing research, the number of affected people in LDCs must be around 100 times higher than in developed countries to generate comparable research interest.
Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Potsdam
Update
Taiwan is a powerful example of a comprehensive approach to earthquake resilience, not only through physical and economic aspects but also social and organizational dimensions.
Moody's Investors Service
Research briefs
A groundbreaking method using Benford’s law allows the detection of debris flows from seismic signals.
Eos - AGU
Tourists traverse the side of a road eroded by floods in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand
Research briefs
Urban growth, climate change, and flood risk at lower elevations can push people to live on steeper, more dangerous terrain.
American Geophysical Union
Rocks block a road in Tejeros, Gran Canaria, Spain after heavy rains trigger landslides and rockfalls
Update
SLF researchers are investigating how artificial stones move on rough ground in order to improve hazard indication maps.
WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF
wave
Research briefs
A landslide in a remote part of Greenland caused a mega-tsunami that sloshed back and forth across a fjord for nine days, generating vibrations throughout Earth, according to a new study involving UCL researchers.
University College London
Update
Landslides are a common hazard in the US. In fact, nearly 44% of the country could experience one, potentially catastrophically. Our new national landslide susceptibility map shows where they’re most likely to happen.
United States Geological Survey
Cover
Documents and publications
This case study presents the Inform@Risk project which aimed at developing innovative strategies to strengthen resilience against landslides in informally urbanized areas in Colombia.
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