Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

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/

  • Large (11.3 x 5.0 x 3.5 m) sub-rounded gneissic boulder deposited in center of channel of Quebrada Camurí Chiquito. Boulder was deposited atop reinforced concrete pad with strands of steel rebar visible along base of boulder. Photo from Venezuela landslides and debris flows, 1999 - USGS Open-file report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/
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  • Map of Venezuela showing location of area (rectangle) in Vargas State affected by landslides and flooding triggered by storm of December 14-16, 1999 north of Caracas.
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  • Aerial view of debris-flow deposition resulting in widespread destruction on the Caraballeda fan of the Quebrada San Julián. Avulsion of the main channel (left side of photo) resulted in deposits up to 6-m in thickness and totaling about 1.8 million cubic meters of bouldery debris. Secondary new flood channels are visible through center of fan to the lower right of photo (Photo by Lawson Smith, US ACE).
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  • Apartment in Caraballeda extensively damaged by passage of debris-flow front at least 3.5 m in height, leaving boulders (> 1m) on second floor of structure. Photo from USGS Open-file report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/
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  • Excavated channel of the Quebrada San Julián on the eastern portion of Caraballeda fan. Debris flow and flood waters overflowed channel at this point midway on the fan. Concrete base of channel (left) dates to post-1951 flood recovery efforts. Channel was probably partially refilled with sediment príor to the events of December 1999. Note bulldozer in channel for scale. Photo from USGS Open-file report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/
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  • Large boulder (6m x 4.6m x 1.6m) deposited within a coarse sandy gravelly matrix on a channel slope of 6 degrees in Quebrada El Cojo. For more information see USGS Open-file report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/
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  • Roof of a one-story residence buried by debris flow in center of Caraballeda fan. View eastward across area inundated by bouldery debris flow
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  • Debris-flow deposit, 2.9 m-thick, incised by subsequent flooding of channel in Río Camurí Chiquito. Fine-grained matrix supports coarse particles
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  • Prehistoric terrace of flood and debris-flow deposits about 20 m thick above current channel of Quebrada San Julián near Caraballeda. Note people on left for scale among recently deposited car-size boulders in channel.
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  • Shaded relief map of the Venezuela coastline north of Caracas between Maiquetia and Naiguata affected by abundant landslides and flooding in December 1999 (modified from Urbani et al., 2000). This image is of the rectangular geographical area shown on larger map in image "imagehighrezmap1.jpg, this site. (Please see online USGS Open-file Report for reference and more information: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0144/ )
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  • Coalescing shallow landslides initiated on steep hillsides in soils developed over bedrock of Tacagua Formation. Shallow slides initiated on concave or planar slopes coalesced with other slides as they traveled into channels. Transmission tower, 30 m high, (upper right) for scale.
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  • December 1999 debris-flow damage to the city of Caraballeda,
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