Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

  • ***IMPORTANT NOTE: FOR UPDATED PHOTOS and VIDEOS of this site, PLEASE SEE: http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/goleta/ Rainfall in steep burned areas can quickly transform into potentially dangerous flash floods and debris flows. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), conducts detailed monitoring of the precipitation, runoff, and erosion within the Gap burn area near Goleta, CA. This fire burned over 9000 acres in July 2008. The monitoring effort is intended to provide advancement in the understanding of post-fire runoff and erosion processes, and the development of flash floods and debris flows.
    USGS Hillslope Monitoring in Gap Fire burned area, California
    ( pictures)
  • Visit the U.S. Highway 50, CA Monitoring Page for real time data from this site.
    U.S. Highway 50, CA
    ( pictures)
  • The Johnson Creek landslide is located along the Oregon coast near the city of Newport. The landslide has a long history of impacting U.S. Highway 101, which passes over the middle section of the slide. The slide is up to 26 m thick, 200 m long, and 360 m wide, and occurs within the Astoria Formation of Miocene age. At the landslide location, the Astoria formation consists of siltstone, sandstone, mudstone and tuffaceous claystone, and dips 15-20 degrees to the west. Up to a 20 m wide graben defines the headscarp of the slide, and the toe daylights near the beach below the coastal cliff. Total movement of the slide, as estimated from geologic cross-sections, is 28 m horizontally and 6 m vertically. The most recent significant movement of the slide occurred in early 2002, when it moved approximately 25 cm horizontally and several centimeters vertically. For more information, please see: http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/johnson_creek/ Also, see: Preliminary Results of Subsurface Exploration and Monitoring at the Johnson Creek Landslide, Lincoln County, Oregon: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1127/
    Johnson Creek Landslide, Coastal Oregon USA
    ( pictures)
  • Nearly two-dozen shallow landslides were active during spring 2005 on a hillside located along the east side of the Florida River about one kilometer downstream from Lemon Reservoir in La Plata County, southwestern Colorado. Land-slides on the hillside directly threaten human safety, residential structures, a county roadway, utilities, and the Florida River, and indirectly threaten downstream areas and Lemon Dam. Most of the area where the landslides occurred was burned during the 2002 Missionary Ridge wildfire. USGS scientists performed geologic mapping, subsurface exploration and sampling, radiocarbon dating, and shallow ground-water and ground displacement monitoring to assess landslide activity. Active landslides during spring 2005 were as large as 35,000 m3 and confined to colluvium. Debris flows were mobilized from most of the landslides, were as large as 1,500 m3, and traveled as far as 250 m. For more information, please see: Preliminary Assessment of Landslides Along the Florida River Downstream from Lemon Reservoir, La Plata County, Colorado: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1343/
    Florida River, Colorado
    ( pictures)
  • An active rockslide in Merced River Canyon was first noticed on April 29, 2006 when a few rocks rolled onto Highway 140 between mileposts 103 and 104, compromising traffic on this highway and signaling the onset of renewed activity of the Ferguson rockslide. State highway 140 is one of the main entrances to Yosemite National Park and is the primary road for large commercial trucks access into the park from the west. Continued rockslide activity during 2006 built a large talus cone that covered the highway and encroached into the Merced River below it. As of 2008, the rockslide is still being monitored. Observations by the US Forest Service (USFS), the California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirm that the rockslide remained active through 2006 and represents a potential threat to traffic along the rerouted highway as well as to recreational users of the Merced River in the runout path below the rockslide. Delineation of the hazards posed by the Ferguson rockslide is a necessary prerequisite to mitigating them. For more information, please see USGS Report online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1275/
    Ferguson Rockslide, Near Yosemite National Park, CA
    ( pictures)

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