Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

  • These are photos from around the world, not organized by event
    Various International Landslides
    ( pictures)
  • Photo
    Peru Earthquake/Mt. Huascaran 1970
    ( pictures)
  • Heavy rainfall from the storm of December 14-16, 1999 triggered thousands of landslides on steep slopes of the Sierra de Avila north of Caracas, Venezuela. In addition to landslides, heavy rainfall caused flooding and massive debris flows that damaged coastal communities in the State of Vargas along the Caribbean Sea. Examination of the rainfall pattern obtained from the GOES-8 satellite showed that the pattern of damage was generally consistent with the area of heaviest rainfall. Field observations of the severely affected drainage basins and historical records indicate that previous flooding and massive debris-flow events of similar magnitude to that of December 1999 have occurred throughout this region. The volume of debris-flow deposits and the large boulders that the flows transported qualifies the 1999 event amongst the largest historical rainfall-induced debris flows documented worldwide. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE: "Debris-flow and flooding hazards associated with the December 1999 storm in coastal Venezuela and strategies for mitigation", USGS Open-file report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/
    Landslides/Debris Flows - 1999, Vargas State, Venezuela
    ( pictures)
  • ***(NOTE: This photo site has 2 pages) - The May 12, 2008, Great Sichuan Earthquake, also called the Wenchuan Earthquake occurred at 14:28 local time, in Sichuan Province, China. The earthquake magnitudes were USGS Mw = 7.9, Ms=8.0 (Chinese Earthquake Administration). The epicenter (30.986 degrees N, `03.364 degrees East, was 80 km west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, at a hypocenter dept of 19 km. Statistics list 80,000 + confirmed dead, 374,176 injured, and 18, 3440 listed as missing and presumed dead. Damage by Earthquake-induced landslides was catastrophic and accounted for many of the casualties. At least 256 landslide dams were formed by the landslides blocking rivers, 34 of which were deemed highly dangerous by the Chinese Government. The backed up water behind the landslide dams also resulted in many instances of flooding.
    Landslides From the Sichuan (Wenchuan) Earthquake, China, May 2008
    ( pictures)
  • These photos are from the June 14, 2008 Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku earthquake-induced landslides, central part of Northeast Japan. The earthquake had a Magnitude of 7.2 (Japan Meteorological Agency). The earthquake induced approximately 2,200 landslides and slope failures on the lower flank of Mt. Kurikomayama, one of the Quaternary-age volcanos in the area
    Landslides caused by the Iwate-Miyagi Nairiku Earthquake, Japan (2008)
    ( pictures)
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    Ireland
    ( pictures)
  • The January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake triggered more than 1,000 landslides consisting mainly of disrupted slides and falls in weak limestone. Many of the landslides blocked stream drainages and impounded lakes. The larger landslide dams have already breached, and streams are flowing through them. The landslides extend about 60 kilometers east and west from the earthquake epicenter and across the entire north-to-south extent of the peninsula west of Port au Prince. U.S. Geological Survey geologists Ed Harp and Randy Jibson investigated the landslides.
    Haiti Earthquake-Induced Landslides, January 12, 2010
    ( pictures)
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    China Mudslides August, 2010
    ( pictures)
  • On February 17, 2006, a disastrous rockslide-debris avalanche occurred in tropical mountain terrain, on Leyte Island, Central Philippines. Over 1100 people perished when the village of Guinsaugon was overwhelmed directly in the path of the landslide. The landslide was initiated by the failure of a 450 m high rock slope within the damage zone of the Philippine Fault where the rock mass consisted of sheared and brecciated volcanic, sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks. Tectonic weakening of the failed rock mass had resulted from active strike-slip movements along the Philippine Fault which have been estimated by other workers at 2.5 cm/year. The landslide involved a total volume of 15 Mm3, including significant entrainment from its path, and ran out a horizontal distance of 3800 m over a vertical distance of 810 m, equivalent to a fahrböschung of 12°. Run-out distance was enhanced by friction reduction due to undrained loading when the debris encountered flooded paddy fields in the valley bottom at a path distance of 2600 m. For more information, please see the report by Evans, et al., 2007, online: http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/7/89/2007/nhess-7-89-2007.pdf
    2006 Guinsaugon Village, Leyte Island Philippines Landslide
    ( pictures)
  • The October 8, 2005, Kashmir earthquake (M 7.6) triggered several thousand landslides, mainly rock falls and rock slides, in the epicentral area near the cities of Muzafarrabad and Balakot, Pakistan. Most of these were shallow, coalescing rock slides emanating from highly sheared and deformed limestone and dolomite of the Precambrian Muzafarrabad Formation. The largest landslide triggered by the earthquake is located approximately 32 kilometers southeast of Muzafarrabad in a tributary valley of the Jhelum River. This landslide is a debris avalanche of approximately 80 million cubic meters volume within the Miocene Murree Formation consisting of mixed sandstone, mudstone, shale, and limestone. The avalanche buried the village of Dandbeh and resulted in approximately 1,000 fatalities, according to local residents. For more information please see USGS Open-file Report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1052/
    2005 Pakistan/Kashmir Earthquake/landslides
    ( pictures)

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