Keefer, D.K., Larsen, M.C., 2007. Assessing landslide hazards. Sciences 316, 1136–1137.
Abstract:
On 31 May 1970, a large earthquake
shook the highest part of the Peruvian
Andes. Millions of cubic meters of
rock dislodged from a mountainside and initiated
a rock avalanche that traveled more than
14 km in 3 min, burying a city and killing
more than 25,000 people (1, 2). On 17 February
2006, a landslide of 15 million m3 that
initiated on a slope weakened by long-term
tectonic activity buried more than 1100 people
on Leyte Island in the Philippines (3).
Landslides such as these are a hazard in
almost all countries, causing billions of dollars
of damage and many casualties (4).
Landslides also contribute to landscape evolution
and erosion in mountainous regions (see
the first figure). Here we discuss the latest
strategies used to assess and mitigate landslide
hazards.