Anyone that lives in a hilly region should be on the lookout for landslides after heavy rain or snow melt. Here are some features that might be noticed prior to a landslide:

Notice the tilting trees in this minor Costa Rican landslide (photo by: Helen J. Young)

Real Time Monitoring of Landslides

In order to reduce the risk of active landslides, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) created real-time landslide monitoring systems. These systems can detect early warning signs of potentially hazardous landslides and allow for a better understanding of landslide behavior to help engineers create better designs for stopping landslide movement. Real time monitoring save people's lives because traditional field observations cannot detect changes the instant they occur and landslides can be very difficult and unsafe to work on.

Currently, landslides are being monitored along Northern California's Highway 50, sites near Seattle, Washington, and several in New Mexico and Colorado. Each station focuses on detecting: 1) precipitation and ground water levels which can destabalize a slope 2) acceleration of slide movement, and 3) ground vibrations associated with movement. Click a location below to see real-time landslide information. (Real-Time Monitoring of Active Landslides)

Preventing Landslides

The easiest solution for preventing catastrophic landslides is to stop building on steep slopes or on the edges of mountains - landslides may still occur, but the chances of people or property getting damaged is much less.  Warnings about landslides will probably not stop real estate agents from selling prime property in sunny California, and poor mining families in Latin America probably cannot afford to stop mining gold.  However, there are a few precautionary measures one can take to avoid ending up with a house like the one on the left, other than not building or living in landslide zones: (Photo by: J. Coe, USGS)

1) Plant vegetation

2) Control water run-off

3) Don't water slopes

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