Costly Regional Landslide Events in the United States
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Frequently-anticipated questions:
- What does this data set describe?
- How should this data set be cited?
- What geographic area does the data set cover?
- What does it look like?
- Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
- What is the general form of this data set?
- How does the data set represent geographic features?
- How does the data set describe geographic features?
- Who produced the data set?
- Why was the data set created?
- How was the data set created?
- How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
- How can someone get a copy of the data set?
- Who wrote the metadata?
What does this data set describe?
- Title: Costly Regional Landslide Events in the United States
- Abstract:
- This map layer contains information on costly regional landslide events in the 50 United States and Puerto Rico. The extents of the regional events were drawn from the published literature and represent the approximate boundaries of extensive landsliding triggered by a single meteorological or seismic event. The regional extents should be considered approximate. In several cases the limits shown represent an arbitrary administrative boundary rather than the extent of landsliding related to a storm or earthquake. Costly events are defined as those where there was public or private property damage or loss of human life. Landslides are defined in a broad manner, to include most types of gravitational mass movement such as rockfalls, debris flows, and the failure of engineered soil materials. Landslide causes include earthquakes, reservoir draw-downs, and heavy precipitation. This is an updated version of the April 2001 map layer.
- Supplemental_Information:
-
The purpose of this project was to identify and compile data relating to
the most costly landslide events in the United States. Damage estimates
are generally direct costs, or calculable expenses incurred by owners of
private or public property that were impacted by a landslide. Many of the
highest costs were the result of damage to the transportation
infrastructure. For example, the 1983 Thistle Landslide in Utah destroyed
a section of both U.S. Highway 6 and the main line of the Denver and Rio
Grande railway. Much of the estimated cost of $400 million was attributed
to the damage to these transportation routes. Indirect costs such as
those incurred through increased travel times, loss of jobs, and reduced
income as a result of a landslide event can be significant. However, an
accurate accounting of these costs is often difficult. For example, the
April 1998 Anzar Road landslide in San Benito County, California severed a
utility line that provided natural gas service to an adjacent county.
Restaurants and other businesses were forced to close for a time,
resulting in lost revenues, wages, and income for the people affected.
An additional map layer showing costly individual landslide events is also available as part of the National Atlas of the United States. Individual events are those points where a single costly landslide occurred. Locations of these points were determined from published landslide maps and coordinates, and in several cases the points locate the nearest town or other geographic feature. In all cases the locations should be considered approximate.
More information on the USGS National Landslides Hazards Program is available at <http://landslides.usgs.gov/>.
- How should this data set be cited?
Godt, Jonathan W. , 200110, Costly Regional Landslide Events in the United States: National Atlas of the United States, Reston, VA.
Online Links:
- What geographic area does the data set cover?
- West_Bounding_Coordinate: -155
- East_Bounding_Coordinate: -78
- North_Bounding_Coordinate: 63
- South_Bounding_Coordinate: 32
- What does it look like?
- Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
- Calendar_Date: Oct-2001
- Currentness_Reference: Publication date
- Calendar_Date: Oct-2001
- What is the general form of this data set?
- Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Vector digital data
- How does the data set represent geographic features?
- How are geographic features stored in the data set?
This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):
- GT-polygon composed of chains (15)
- What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.000278. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.000278. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.
The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
The ellipsoid used is GRS1980.
The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.
- How are geographic features stored in the data set?
- How does the data set describe geographic features?
- Landslide location (described by landsll020.dbf).
- A region where costly landslides have occurred.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
- Shape
- The representation of the entity in the data.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Value Definition Polygon 2-dimensional element. - Area
- The size of the shape in coverage units. In the distributed
file, coverage units represent square decimal degrees.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 0.086 Maximum: 57.226 - Perimeter
- The perimeter of the shape in coverage units. In the distributed file,
coverage units represent decimal degrees.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 1.303 Maximum: 174.814 - Ls_
- Internal feature number.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 1 Maximum: 15 - Number
- Internal reference number for the landslide.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 101 Maximum: 115 - Year
- The year of the regional landslide occurrence.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 1906 Maximum: 1998 - Month
- The month of the regional landslide occurrence. A value of 0 indicates
either that the month is unknown, or that the landslide event took place
over more than one month.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 0 Maximum: 4 - Day
- The day of the regional landslide occurrence. A value of 0 indicates
either that the day is unknown, or that the landslide event took place
over more than one day.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 0 Maximum: 28 - Locality
- The location of the regional landslide. The locality can be the name of
a county, the name of a region, a list of States, or some similar
description. The locality includes the State or territory name(s).
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
There is no predefined set of valid localities.
- Country
- The country in which the regional landslide occurred.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Value Definition United States The landslide occurred in the United States or a United States territory. - Deaths
- The number of fatalities associated with the regional landslide event.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 0 Maximum: 150 - Damage
- The cost of damage attributed to the landslide, in millions of U.S.
dollars. A value of 0 indicates that the costs are unknown.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
Range of values Minimum: 0 Maximum: 800 - Comments
- Significant features of the regional landslide event.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
There is no predefined set of valid comments.
- Type
- A description of the predominant landslide type.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
There is no predefined set of valid type descriptions.
- Name
- The name of the landslide.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
There is no predefined set of valid landslide names.
- Trigproc
- The process that triggered the landslide, such as rainfall or an
earthquake. A blank indicates the trigger is unknown.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
There is no predefined set of valid landslide triggers.
- Reference
- The bibliographic reference(s) from which the information on the
landslide was drawn.
(Source: National Atlas of the United States)
There is no predefined set of valid bibliographic references.
Who produced the data set?
- Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
- Jonathan W. Godt
- Who also contributed to the data set?
The following individuals also contributed to this map layer: Lynn Highland, Matthew McKeever, Nathan Trevor, and Margo Johnson.
- To whom should users address questions about the data?Lynn Highland
U.S. Geological Survey National Landslide Information Center
Director
MS 966 Box 25046
Denver, CO 80225
800-654-4966 (voice)
303-273-8626 (FAX)
[email protected]
Why was the data set created?
These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas. The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data. No responsibility is assumed by the National Atlas of the United States in the use of these data.
How was the data set created?
- From what previous works were the data drawn?
- LANDSL (source 1 of 1)
-
Sources for these data are numerous. They include articles in professional journals and newspaper accounts., Unknown, Landslide reports.
- Other_Citation_Details:
- A complete source bibliography is included as a text file bundled with the downloadable data. The file is called landslp_sources.txt.
- Type_of_Source_Media: variable
- Source_Contribution: Spatial and attribute information.
- How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
- Date: 2000 (process 1 of 3)
-
Landslide locations were digitized from published maps.
Data sources used in this process:
- LANDSL
- Date: Apr-2001 (process 2 of 3)
-
References to landslide images were removed.
- Date: Oct-2001 (process 3 of 3)
-
A correction was made to the number of deaths listed for the June, 1995
Madison County, Virginia landslide. Typographical errors in the
references were corrected.
- What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
- How well have the observations been checked?
No explicit attempt was made to evaluate the accuracy of the landslide locations.
- How accurate are the geographic locations?
No tests for horizontal positional accuracy were performed on this map layer. The horizontal positional accuracy of the observations is unknown.
- How accurate are the heights or depths?
- Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
This map layer is a representative sample of the most costly regional landslide events in the United States. The map layer is not an exhaustive account of landslide damage.
- How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
No formal test were conducted other than a review of the relevant literature.
How can someone get a copy of the data set?
Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
- Access_Constraints: None
- Use_Constraints:
- None. Acknowledgment of the National Atlas of the United States of America and (or) the U.S. Geological Survey would be appreciated in products derived from these data.
- Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey
507 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) (voice)
- Contact_Instructions:
-
In addition to the address above there are other ESIC offices throughout
the country. A full list of these offices is at
<http://ask.usgs.gov/esic_index.html>.
- What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
- What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey regarding the utility of the data on any other system, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. No responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of these data.
- How can I download or order the data?
- Availability in digital form:
Data format: ESRI Shapefile Network links: <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpgeol#chpgeol>
Data format: SDTS Network links: <http://nationalatlas.gov/atlasftp.html?openChapters=chpgeol#chpgeol>
- Cost to order the data: There is no charge for the map layer.
- Availability in digital form:
Who wrote the metadata?
- Dates:
- Last modified: 17-Jul-2006
- Metadata author:
-
Peg Rawson
National Atlas of the United States
12201 Sunrise Valley Dr
Reston, VA 20192
703-648-4183 (voice)
[email protected]
- Metadata standard:
- FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
