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New Landslide Guidebook for Puerto Rico Released

By on February 6, 2020

SAN JUAN — A new landslide guidebook is now available for Puerto Rico residents to learn more about the landslide hazards that can impact the island.

A house in Puerto Rico damaged by a landslide. USGS photo by Lindsay Davis
A house in Puerto Rico damaged by a landslide. (USGS photo by Lindsay Davis)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said Thursday that the guidebook was created to explain the causes, signs and consequences of landslides and describes steps to improve preparedness.

The guidebook can also be used as a tool for organizations, universities, agencies, emergency managers and planners to promote landslide awareness and resilience throughout the island as part of hazard education and outreach activities.

“When Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, the major storm triggered more than 70,000 landslides across the island. These landslides disrupted transportation routes, dislodged homes from their foundations on steep hillsides and caused both direct and indirect loss of life,” the USGS wrote.

The USGS and the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder partnered with University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez faculty and students to develop a guidebook intended to help residents understand and reduce landslide risk.

The guidebook was supported by funds provided to the USGS as part of the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act 2018.

The guidebook is available in English and Spanish. For more information visit: http://hazards.colorado.edu/puertorico.

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