Image: The impact of a landslide in Sicily, Italy (October, 2009)
By Jack Lee
Certain actions increase the chance of surviving a devastating landslide, and simple behavioral changes could save more lives than expensive engineering solutions, according to a new study in AGU’s journal GeoHealth.
In the study, Pollock and Wartman compiled and analyzed a data set of landslide events from around the world that affected occupied buildings, with most of the data coming from the United States. The results showed behavioral factors (such as having knowledge of local landslide hazards and moving to a higher floor during a landslide) had the strongest association with survival, regardless of the size or the intensity of landslide events. The authors also found that stories from landslide survivors provide general strategies for reducing the risk of death.
“There are, in fact, some really simple, cost-effective measures…that can dramatically improve the likelihood that one will survive a landslide,” said Joseph Wartman, a geotechnical engineer at the University of Washington in Seattle and senior author of the new study.
Worldwide, landslides cause over 4,000 deaths per year, on average. In the United States, they are estimated to kill 25 to 50 people each year. In March 2014, the Oso landslide in Washington became the deadliest landslide event in U.S. history, resulting in 43 deaths and destroying 49 homes and structures. Yet scientists haven’t analyzed why some people survive landslides and others don’t.
Please note: Content is displayed as last posted by a PreventionWeb community member or editor. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of UNDRR, PreventionWeb, or its sponsors. See our terms of use
