About less deadly landslides!

Could the Oso landslide have been avoided? Are there more landslide prone areas across the country and how could state and federal agencies locate them and take precautions? Professors of the University of Washington D.R. Montgomery and J. Wartman, in their NY Times article "How to Make Landslides Less Deadly", are providing enlightening information with regards to the above questions and explain that despite recent technological advancements, little has been done towards their implementation in the development of detailed and reliable maps of landslide hazards nationwide. 

According to the authors, geologists and engineers have the ability to locate areas susceptible to landslides and prevent deadly events from happening in the future, under one fundamental condition: detailed maps of landslide hazards. Landslide mapping can be performed nowadays in unprecedented detail, using the latest technological breakthroughs in remote sensing technology. 

High-resolution maps - available in other countries such as New Zealand, Italy and Switzerland - have a multi fold function, as they provide information on landslide risks, define land-use policies and help citizens in selecting appropriate locations when buying or building homes. In the United States, similar initiatives have not gone too far, mainly due to lack of funding or political reasons. Authors estimate that creation of landslide hazard maps for the entire nation would cost much less than the $1billion worth of landslide-induced damage yearly.

Read the full article here!