Nationwide map shows area's risks of landslides

WVXU highlighted a new national map that identifies the greatest risk of landslides in every state.

University of Cincinnati geologist Daniel Sturmer helped the U.S. Geological Survey assemble the map from data he collected from more than 700 landslides in Nevada, where they pose a major threat to some populated areas.

“It's important to know where you've had landslides, because that can tell you where you will have landslides again,” Sturmer told WVXU.

Some of the hills around Cincinnati present a landslide threat as happened in 2019 when transportation officials had to close parts of Columbia Parkway. 

The highest landslide risks are in the western United States and the Appalachians. But Sturmer said the risks are not limited to mountain areas.

“Generally landslides don't just happen out of the blue with no initial indicators,” Sturmer said. “If you can learn those warning signs and learn to look for them, then you can hopefully contact somebody, and bring somebody out who can help mitigate it before it's a catastrophe.”

Read the WVXU story.

Featured image at top: UC Associate Professor Daniel Sturmer studies landslides in the Department of Geosciences. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC