Landslides Represent Permanent Deformation Caused By The Downward And Outward Movements Of Large Volumes Of Soil And/Or Rock Under The Influence Of Gravity. Landslides Occur Naturally. Landslides Can Be Triggered And/Or Exacerbated By: 1) Water (From Precipitation During A Tropical Storm, Hurricane, Or Typhoon), Or 2) Vibrations (From Ground Shaking) During An Earthquake. Millions Of Communities Are Not Resilient To Landslide Disasters. One Of The Myths Of Disasters Is That Landslide Disasters, Which Occur Annually In Every Nation, Should Be Enough To Make All Nations Adopt And Implement Policies That Will Lead To Landslide Disaster Resilience. But The Fact Of The Matter Is, This Premise Is Wrong; It Usually Takes Multiple Disasters Before A Stricken Nation Will Adopt Policies To Move Towards Disaster Resilience. Lesson: The Timing Of Anticipatory Actions Is Vital. The People Who Know: 1) What To Expect (E.G., Rock Falls, “quake Lakes,” Mud Flows, Etc.), 2) Where And When It Will Happen, And 3) What They Should (And Should Not) Do To Prepare Will Survive. The People Who Have Timely Early Warning In Conjunction With A Modern Monitoring System, And A Community Evacuation Plan That Facilitates Getting Out Of Harm’s Way From The Risks Associated With Rock Falls, Mudflows, Etc. Will Survive. Engineering To Stabilize Slopes Will Reduce Damage To Buildings And Infrastructure And Help Sustain Their Functions And Save Lives. Presentation courtesy of Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance For Disaster Reduction

1. LEARNING FROM GLOBAL
DISASTER LABORATORIES
PART 1: LANDSLIDES

2. LANDSLIDES
represent permanent
deformation caused by the
downward and outward
movements of large volumes of
soil and/or rock under the
influence of gravity.

3. PHYSICS OF LANDSLIDES
• Landslides occur naturally.
• Landslides can be triggered and/or
exacerbated by: 1) Water (from
precipitation during a tropical storm,
hurricane, or typhoon), or 2) Vibrations
(from ground shaking) during an
earthquake.

4. WORST LANDSLIDE: 1970 IN PERU
• A M7.7 earthquake that occurred
offshore Peru in 1970 triggered a
massive landslide of snow, soil,
and rock in the Nevados
Huascaran Mountains that buried
Yungay, Ramrahirca, and several
other villages, killing 18,000.

5. SITING AND BUILDING ON
UNSTABLE SLOPES
LANDSLIDES
SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE
TO FALLS
SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE
TO TOPPLES
SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE
TO LATERAL SPREADS
SOIL AND ROCK
SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOWS
PRECIPITATION THAT
TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE
SHAKING
GROUND SHAKING THAT
TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE
CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
GLOBAL
DISASTER
LABORATORIES

6. YOUR
COMMUNITYDATA BASES
AND INFORMATION
HAZARDS:
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
TSUNAMI RUN UP
AFTERSHOCKS
• LANDSLIDE
HAZARDS
•INVENTORY
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
LANDSLIDE RISK
RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
LANDSLIDE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
•PREPAREDNESS
•PROTECTION
•FORECASTS/SCENARIOS
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
•RECOVERY and
RECONSTRUCTION
POLICY OPTIONS

7. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO
LANDSLIDE HAZARDS
(I.E., FALLS, TOPPLES, SLIDES,
SPREADS, AND FLOWS)

18. MILLIONS OF
COMMUNITIES ARE NOT
RESILIENT TO LANDSLIDE
DISASTERS

19. LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT
DISASTER RESILIENCE
ALL LANDSLIDES
PREPAREDNES
BEING ABLE TO
ANTICIPATE THE
EXPECTED AND
UNEXPEDTED IS
ESSENTIAL FOR
DISASTER
RESILIENCE

21. QUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES
CREATE “EARTH-QUAKE LAKE”
TANGJIASHAN, LARGEST OF 69
"QUAKE LAKES"

22. RISING WATER IN EARTH-
QUAKE LAKE, MAY 31, 2008

23. ANTICIPATE LANDSLIDE-PRONE AREAS IN
A COMMUNITY– BEFORE MAY 12, 2008

24. EARTHQAKE TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES:
BEICHUAN, CHINA, MAY 12, 2008

25. LANDSLIDE: JINGXIU

26. LANDSLIDE: MIANZHU

27. LANDSLIDE: HANWANG

28. HURRICANE TRIGGERED
LANDSLIDES IN HONDURAS
• HURRICANE STAN:
OCTOBER 2005
• DEVASTATING
MUDSLIDES WERE
TRIGGERED BY
PROLONGED,
HEAVY
PRECIPITATION.

29. FLOOD TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE
IN CHINA: JULY 2007

30. TYPHOON MORAKOT-TRIGGERED
LANDSLIDE IN TAIWAN, AUG 10, 2009

31. QUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE: PADANG
PARIAMAN, INDONESIA; 2009

32. TYPHOON PARMA TRIGGERED:
MUD FLOWS; OCT 12, 2009

33. FLOOD TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE
IN CHINA: JULY 2007

34. RAIN TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE:
BAGUIO CITY—OCT 9, 2010

35. LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT
DISASTER RESILIENCE
ALL LANDSLIDES
TIMELY
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE
(E.G.,SEARCH AND
RESCUE) IS
ESSENTIAL FOR
DISASTER
RESILIENCE

36. LANDSLIDE: WASHINGTON
STATE; MARCH 22, 2014

37. THE MUDSLIDE

38. WALL OF MUD MOVED DOWN
SLOPE AFTER HEAVY RAINFALL

39. DESTROYED HOME

40. SEARCH AND RESCUE

41. SEARCH AND RESCUE

42. SAR: SLOW, DANGEROUS
WORK

43. SEARCH AND RESCUE

44. IT’S TOO LATE; ONE WEEK
LATER: SATURDAY, MARCH 29

45. WE BELIEVE A FLAWED PREMISE:
LANDSLIDE DISASTERS, WHICH
OCCUR ANNUALLY IN EVERY
NATION,
SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO MAKE
ALL NATIONS ADOPT AND
IMPLEMENT POLICIES THAT WILL
LEAD TO LANDSLIDE DISASTER
RESILIENCE

46. FACT: BUT, THIS PREMISE IS
WRONG; IT USUALLY TAKES
MULTIPLE DISASTERS BEFORE A
STRICKEN NATION WILL ADOPT
POLICIES TO MOVE TOWARDS
DISASTER RESILIENCE

47. LESSON: THE TIMING OF
ANTICIPATORY ACTIONS IS VITAL
• The people who know: 1) what to
expect (e.g., rock falls, “quake
lakes,” mud flows, etc.), 2) where
and when it will happen, and 3)
what they should (and should not)
do to prepare will survive.

48. LESSON: MONITORING, EARLY
WARNING AND EVACUATION SAVES LIVES
• The people who have timely early
warning in conjunction with a
modern monitoring system, and a
community evacuation plan that
facilitates getting out of harm’s way
from the risks associated with rock
falls, mudflows, etc. will survive.

49. LESSON: EMERGENCY MEDICAL
PREPAREDNESS SAVES LIVES
• Damaged hospitals and medical
facilities combined with lack of
clean drinking water, food, and
medicine, and high levels of
morbidity and mortality will quickly
overrun the local community’s
capacity for emergency health care.

50. LESSON: SLOPE STABILITY
ENGINEERING SAVE LIVES
• Engineering to stabilize slopes will
reduce damage to buildings and
infrastructure and help sustain their
functions.

51. LESSON: THE INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY OFTEN PROVIDES AID
• The International Community often
provides millions to billions of
dollars in relief to help “pick up the
pieces, ” but this strategy is not
enough by itself to ensure disaster
resilience.

52. THE CHALLENGE:
POLICY CHANGES: CREATE, ADJUST, AND
REALIGN PROGRAMS, PARTNERS AND
PEOPLE UNTIL YOU HAVE CREATED THE
KINDS OF TURNING POINTS NEEDED FOR
MOVING TOWARDS LANDSLIDE RESILIENCE

53. POLICIES FOR LANDSLIDE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
Preparedness
Urban Planning to Avoid Locales Susceptible to
Landslides
Monitoring for Early Warning and Evacuation
Timely Emergency Response (including
Emergency Medical Services)
Cost-Effective Recovery and Reconstruction

54. CREATING TURNING POINTS FOR
LANDSLIDE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
USING EDUCATIONAL SURGES CONTAINING THE
PAST AND PRESENT LESSONS TO FOSTER AND
ACCELERATE THE CREATION OF TURNING POINTS

55. CREATING TURNING POINTS FOR
LANDSLIDE DISASTER
RESILIENCE
INTEGRATION OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL
SOLUTIONS WITH POLITICAL SOLUTIONS FOR
POLICIES ON PREPAREDNESS, PROTECTION,
EARLY WARNING, EMERGENCY RESPONSE, AND
RECOVERY