On March 31st, between the hours of 10:00 am and 11:00 am, a deadly landslide swept through the small mining town of Chima, Brazil which is located 160 miles away from the capital, La Paz. Chima sits next to a 100 foot hill which is used to excavate gold. Authorities say that 40% of the town was covered by the mudslide and that as of May 2003 in the town of 3,000, there are 16 deaths, 17 injuries, 24 orphaned children, and 250 people unaccounted for. (CatholicRelief, 2003).  The landslide occured after heavy rains hit the area a week earlier and caused the flooding of the nearby Tipauni and Marpiri Rivers. The hill was also weakened with excavations made by gold diggers, which left it especially venerable to a landslide. The landslide was the worst disaster to ever hit Chima, whose full name in the Aymara language is Chima Jaukata, or "punished place."(Cuba, 2003).

And Closer To Home...

Landslides occur in every U.S. state and territory. It is estimated that nationally, landslides cause $2 billion in damages  and 25-50 deaths each year! As shown in the map below, the Appalachian Mountains, Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Coastal Ranges (as well as Alaska and Hawaii which are not shown) all have severe landslide problems (USGS, 2003).

The areas in red display high landslide incidence.

Okay, so now you're convinced that landslides are a big deal...but you want to know more about them, right? What exactly are landslides? What causes them? Can they be detected or prevented? Read on to find out!