landslide hazards: learning from global disaster laboratories

LEARNING FROM GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

PART 1: LANDSLIDES

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 represent permanent

deformation caused by the downward and outward

movements of large volumes of soil and/or rock under the

influence of gravity.

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.

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.

SITING AND BUILDING ON UNSTABLE SLOPES

LANDSLIDESLANDSLIDES

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

CAUSES OF DAMAGE

GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

GLOBAL DISASTER LABORATORIES

YOUR

COMMUNITY

YOUR

COMMUNITYDATA BASES AND INFORMATIONDATA 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

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO

LANDSLIDE HAZARDS (I.E., FALLS, TOPPLES, SLIDES,

SPREADS, AND FLOWS)

MILLIONS OF COMMUNITIES ARE NOT

RESILIENT TO LANDSLIDE DISASTERS

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

ALL LANDSLIDES

PREPAREDNES BEING ABLE TO ANTICIPATE THE EXPECTED AND UNEXPEDTED IS ESSENTIAL FOR DISASTER RESILIENCE

QUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES CREATE “EARTH-QUAKE LAKE”

TANGJIASHAN, LARGEST OF 69 "QUAKE LAKES"

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

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

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

LANDSLIDE: JINGXIU

LANDSLIDE: MIANZHU

LANDSLIDE: HANWANG

HURRICANE TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES IN HONDURAS

• HURRICANE STAN: OCTOBER 2005

• DEVASTATING MUDSLIDES WERE TRIGGERED BY PROLONGED, HEAVY PRECIPITATION.

FLOOD TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE IN CHINA: JULY 2007

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

QUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE: PADANG PARIAMAN, INDONESIA; 2009

TYPHOON PARMA TRIGGERED: MUD FLOWS; OCT 12, 2009

FLOOD TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE IN CHINA: JULY 2007

RAIN TRIGGERED LANDSLIDE: BAGUIO CITY—OCT 9, 2010

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE

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

LANDSLIDE: WASHINGTON STATE; MARCH 22, 2014

THE MUDSLIDE

WALL OF MUD MOVED DOWN SLOPE AFTER HEAVY RAINFALL

DESTROYED HOME

SEARCH AND RESCUE

SEARCH AND RESCUE

SAR: SLOW, DANGEROUS WORK

SEARCH AND RESCUE

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

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

FACT: BUT, 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.

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.

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.

LESSON: SLOPE STABILITY ENGINEERING SAVE LIVES

• Engineering to stabilize slopes will reduce damage to buildings and infrastructure and help sustain their functions.

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.

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

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

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

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