Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

  • This high-velocity rockslide slid into Vajont Reservoir and caused 100-m waves to overtop Vajont Dam. The losses were $200 million, in 1963 dollars, and 2,000 people were killed.
    Vajont Reservoir, Italy, rockslide of 1963
    ( pictures)
  • Usoy Village was destroyed, causing 54 deaths. The rockslide dammed the Murgab River, impounding 65-km- long Lake Sarez,which presently still exists.
    Usoi Landslide, Tajikistan, 1911
    ( pictures)
  • This debris avalanche averaged a velocity of 140 km/hr. It dammed the Mantaro River causing 450 deaths. Many houses, farms, and roads were destroyed.
    Peru, 1974 Mayunmarca rockslide/debris avalanche
    ( pictures)
  • Photographs of this event have not been found, but included in this album are some comparison graphics comparing information on the landslide characteristics of the 1962 event, with the later, 1970 debris avalanche, in the same area, which was triggered by an earthquake. There were many more photographs available for the 1970 event, which can be viewed in the album for that date.
    Peru, 1962, Nevados Huascaran Debris Avalanche
    ( pictures)
  • Mount Rokko Landslides and mudflows, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan 1938, caused by heavy rainfall.
    Mount Rokko Landslides, Hyogo, Japan, 1938
    ( pictures)
  • Photo
    Khait Landslides, Tajikistan, 1949
    ( pictures)
  • The 1919 eruption of Kelut volcano in Indonesia produced devastating pyroclastic flows and lahars that killed over 5,000 persons.
    Kelut Lahars, Indonesia, 1919
    ( pictures)
  • A debris flow was caused by the failure of a Moraine dam at laguna Cohup, Peru.
    Huaraz, Peru, 1941 Dam Failure Landslides
    ( pictures)
  • Deixi landslides caused by the 1933 Deixi earthquake, Sichuan, China.
    Deixi Landslides, China, 1933
    ( pictures)
  • Chile, 1960, Rupanco Region earthquake-induced landslides
    Chile, 1960, Rupanco Region landslides due to Valdivia Earthquake
    ( pictures)
  • The Alaska Earthquake which occurred on March 27, 1964, caused devastating landslides and a tsunami that affected the west coast of the mainland United States.
    Alaska Earthquake-triggered landslides, 1964
    ( pictures)
  • A 2.7-km-long glacier mass detached from its bed, accelerated to 65 m/s in under 6 km, and then traveled further, 13 km downstream partway, as an extremely rapid glacier debris flow. It caused 125 deaths, and created a landslide dam.
    2002 Kolka Glacier Debris Flow, Russia
    ( pictures)
  • The January earthquake caused landslides over a 25,000 km2 area, (including parts of Guatemala). The February earthquake caused landslides over a 2,500 km2 area.
    2001 El Salvador Earthquakes
    ( pictures)
  • Heavy rainfall caused this event - a landslide dam was formed, and when the landslide dam failed, a deadly debris flow occurred.
    1998 Northern India (Malpa Himalaya Region) landslides
    ( pictures)
  • In November, 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused torrential rainfall. Approximately 10,000 deaths from the flooding and landslides occurred. Casitas volcano in Nicaragua experienced large debris flows, as torrential rains occurred at the rate of 10 cm of rain per hour.
    1998 Landslides - Hurricane Mitch, Central America
    ( pictures)
  • The Paez earthquake, 1994 caused landslides that led to 221 deaths. A landslide dam failed, and caused a debris-flow. Losses were reported as 0.5 million rupees for direct losses, and 0.2 million rupees, for indirect losses.
    1994 Debris Flows Triggered by Paez, Colomibia earthquake
    ( pictures)
  • In March 1987, two major earthquakes (Ms6.1 and 6.9) occurred near Reventador Volcano along the eastern slopes of the Andes in northeastern Ecuador. Socioeconomic losses directly due to earthquake shaking were small compared to those caused by earthquake-triggered mass movements and flooding. For more information and references, please see: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0276/
    1987 Reventador, Ecuador
    ( pictures)
  • Photo
    1985 Mamayes Puerto Rico Landslide
    ( pictures)
  • As a result of the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia in 1985, the lahar debris flowed into the Lagunillas River Valley, and there were 23,000 deaths in the city of Armero, as hazard warnings were not passed on to the population.
    1985 Eruption of Nevado Ruiz, Colombia - landslides.
    ( pictures)
  • This landslide destroyed major railroads and highways, and dammed the Spanish Fork Rive flooding the town of Thistle. There were no deaths, but it is the most expensive landslide to fix in U.S. history.
    1983 Thistle, Utah Landslide
    ( pictures)

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