Global Landslide Catalog Aids View From Space

Narration: Joy Ng

Transcript:

NASA scientists have updated the first publicly available catalog of global rainfall-triggered landslides.

This map shows the location of roughly 6000 landslides since 2007.

The catalog was produced from online databases and media reports around the world.

Most landslides occur during the Northern Hemisphere summer, coinciding with tropical cyclone and East Asian monsoon seasons.

Heavy rains can trigger landslides by forming fast-moving flows of rock, mud and debris that pour down hillsides creating destruction to life, property and homes.

According to this catalog, rainfall-triggered landslides since 2007 have killed more than 20,000 people.

This map shows the distribution of deaths worldwide.

The highest number of deaths is concentrated in parts of Asia and Southeast Asia.

Scientists will use rainfall measurements from NASA satellites in combination with the catalog to improve our understanding of where and how landslides occur.