infrastructure
The Landslide Map Counted Buildings and People
A national database rates 128 million buildings and estimates that 6.5 million residents face high exposure.
Summary
A national database rates 128 million buildings and estimates that 6.5 million residents face high exposure.
University of Washington researchers combined terrain susceptibility, building footprints, occupancy and census data into the Landslide Exposure Database. Their Earth’s Future analysis places most highly exposed residents in Appalachia and along the West Coast and finds different urban and rural vulnerability patterns; it is a prioritization tool, not a property-level prediction of when a slide will occur.
Why it matters
A national database rates 128 million buildings and estimates that 6.5 million residents face high exposure.
Limits and context
- Their Earth’s Future analysis places most highly exposed residents in Appalachia and along the West Coast and finds different urban and rural vulnerability patterns; it is a prioritization tool, not a property-level prediction of when a slide will occur.
Key claims
A national database rates 128 million buildings and estimates that 6.5 million residents face high exposure.
Qualification: Their Earth’s Future analysis places most highly exposed residents in Appalachia and along the West Coast and finds different urban and rural vulnerability patterns; it is a prioritization tool, not a property-level prediction of when a slide will occur.
Evidence: source-2026-07-30-009
Sources
- University of Washington via Newswise: National landslide exposure databaseUniversity of Washington · official announcement
Corrections
No corrections have been recorded for this story.