Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides

Maximillian Van Wyk De Vries; Alexandre Dunant; Amy L. Johnson; Erin L. Harvey; Sihan Li; Katherine Arrell; Jeevan Baniya; Dipak Basnet; Gopi K. Basyal; Nyima Dorjee Bhotia; Simon J. Dadson; Alexander L. Densmore; Tek Bahadur Dong; Mark E. Kincey; Katie Oven; Anuradha Puri; Nick J. Rosser

doi:10.5194/nhess-25-1937-2025

Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides

Maximillian Van Wyk De Vries^*, Alexandre Dunant, Amy L. Johnson, Erin L. Harvey, Sihan Li, Katherine Arrell, Jeevan Baniya, Dipak Basnet, Gopi K. Basyal, Nyima Dorjee Bhotia, Simon J. Dadson, Alexander L. Densmore, Tek Bahadur Dong, Mark E. Kincey, Katie Oven, Anuradha Puri, Nick J. Rosser

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography and Environmental Sciences Department

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Abstract

Mapping exposure to landslides is necessary to mitigate risk and increase resilience. Exposure maps can be constructed from building databases, akin to seismic risk assessments, but there has been little investigation of the predictive relationship between building damage from landslides and risk to human life. Our study investigates this relationship globally and in Nepal (47 213 and 5664 landslides, respectively). While a correlation exists for nationwide totals (R2 Combining double low line 0.75), it is negligible for individual events (R2 Combining double low line 0.025). It is important to not construct landslide exposure maps from building datasets alone, else building damage may be inadvertently prioritised over human lives in disaster planning.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1937-1942
Number of pages	6
Journal	Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Volume	25
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1937-2025
Publication status	Published - 11 Jun 2025

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Van Wyk De Vries, M., Dunant, A., Johnson, A. L., Harvey, E. L., Li, S., Arrell, K., Baniya, J., Basnet, D., Basyal, G. K., Bhotia, N. D., Dadson, S. J., Densmore, A. L., Dong, T. B., Kincey, M. E., Oven, K., Puri, A., & Rosser, N. J. (2025). Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 25(6), 1937-1942. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1937-2025

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title = "Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides",

abstract = "Mapping exposure to landslides is necessary to mitigate risk and increase resilience. Exposure maps can be constructed from building databases, akin to seismic risk assessments, but there has been little investigation of the predictive relationship between building damage from landslides and risk to human life. Our study investigates this relationship globally and in Nepal (47 213 and 5664 landslides, respectively). While a correlation exists for nationwide totals (R2 Combining double low line 0.75), it is negligible for individual events (R2 Combining double low line 0.025). It is important to not construct landslide exposure maps from building datasets alone, else building damage may be inadvertently prioritised over human lives in disaster planning.",

author = "{Van Wyk De Vries}, Maximillian and Alexandre Dunant and Johnson, {Amy L.} and Harvey, {Erin L.} and Sihan Li and Katherine Arrell and Jeevan Baniya and Dipak Basnet and Basyal, {Gopi K.} and Bhotia, {Nyima Dorjee} and Dadson, {Simon J.} and Densmore, {Alexander L.} and Dong, {Tek Bahadur} and Kincey, {Mark E.} and Katie Oven and Anuradha Puri and Rosser, {Nick J.}",

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Van Wyk De Vries, M, Dunant, A, Johnson, AL, Harvey, EL, Li, S, Arrell, K, Baniya, J, Basnet, D, Basyal, GK, Bhotia, ND, Dadson, SJ, Densmore, AL, Dong, TB, Kincey, ME, Oven, K, Puri, A & Rosser, NJ 2025, 'Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides', Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 1937-1942. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1937-2025

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T2 - Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides

AU - Van Wyk De Vries, Maximillian

AU - Dunant, Alexandre

AU - Johnson, Amy L.

AU - Harvey, Erin L.

AU - Li, Sihan

AU - Arrell, Katherine

AU - Baniya, Jeevan

AU - Basnet, Dipak

AU - Basyal, Gopi K.

AU - Bhotia, Nyima Dorjee

AU - Dadson, Simon J.

AU - Densmore, Alexander L.

AU - Dong, Tek Bahadur

AU - Kincey, Mark E.

AU - Oven, Katie

AU - Puri, Anuradha

AU - Rosser, Nick J.

PY - 2025/6/11

Y1 - 2025/6/11

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AB - Mapping exposure to landslides is necessary to mitigate risk and increase resilience. Exposure maps can be constructed from building databases, akin to seismic risk assessments, but there has been little investigation of the predictive relationship between building damage from landslides and risk to human life. Our study investigates this relationship globally and in Nepal (47 213 and 5664 landslides, respectively). While a correlation exists for nationwide totals (R2 Combining double low line 0.75), it is negligible for individual events (R2 Combining double low line 0.025). It is important to not construct landslide exposure maps from building datasets alone, else building damage may be inadvertently prioritised over human lives in disaster planning.

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JO - Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

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Brief communication: Weak correlation between building damage and loss of life from landslides

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