Abstract
Abstract. A new data set of landslides that caused loss of life in Latin America and the Caribbean in the 10-year period from 2004 and 2013 inclusive has been compiled, providing new insight into the impact of landslides in this key part of the world. This data set indicates that in the 10-year period a total of 11 631 people lost their lives across the region in 611 landslides. The geographical distribution of the landslides is highly heterogeneous, with areas of high incidence in parts of the Caribbean (most notably Haiti), Central America, Colombia, and southeast Brazil. There is significant interannual variation in the number of landslides, with the El Niño/La Niña cycle emerging as a key control. Our analysis suggests that on a continental scale the mapped factors that best explain the observed distribution are topography, annual precipitation and population density. On a national basis we have compared the occurrence of fatality-inducing landslide occurrence with the production of locally authored research articles, demonstrating that there is a landslide research deficit in Latin America and the Caribbean. Understanding better the mechanisms, distribution causes and triggers of landslides in Latin America and the Caribbean must be an essential first step towards managing the hazard.
Highlights
Landslides are a ubiquitous hazard, mainly occurring in high relief areas of the world, and they represent a significant source of loss of life in such terrains
Data on the occurrence of landslides that resulted in loss of life worldwide have been collated since September 2002 in the Durham Fatal Landslide Database (DFLD)
The analysis presented here uses the combined data set (Table 1), termed here the Enhanced Durham Fatal Landslide Database (EDFLD)
Summary
Landslides are a ubiquitous hazard, mainly occurring in high relief areas of the world, and they represent a significant source of loss of life in such terrains. Regions such as South Asia and South America are characterised by high tectonic uplift rates, which lead to steep, unstable slopes; and populations that are often concentrated in deep valleys prone to catastrophic landslides. The background landslide risk is comparatively high. Van Den Eeckhaut and Hervás (2012) present and analyse a number of national landslide databases for Europe In the last decade a more systematic generation and analysis of landslide catalogs at global to continental scale have been developed, such as those of Nadim et al (2006), oriented to hazard and risk analysis at a global scale, or Kirschbaum et al (2010, 2015) who produce and analyse a global catalog for rainfall-induced landslides. Van Den Eeckhaut and Hervás (2012) present and analyse a number of national landslide databases for Europe
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