Landslide hazard mapping for Lebanon

Abstract

Landslides are a major hazard in Lebanon due to the country’s rugged topography and its setting in a region of high seismicity and high rainfall intensity. The situation is further exasperated by rapid expansion in urban areas and lack of building code enforcement and land use regulations. In this work, we present a framework developed to assess earthquake-induced and rainfallinduced landslide hazards for the purpose of generating a comprehensive national map. Our goal is to raise the awareness of the need to address landslide hazards in the country and the associated consequences on human and capital losses. The proposed methods are based on the geological maps, a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM), earthquake peak ground acceleration (PGA) maps, rainfall data, and a preliminary landslide inventory database. The results are calibrated over a representative region of Lebanon using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This study identifies the critical elements that aggravate the landslide hazard and/or present a major consequence of such an event. In addition to the obvious benefits for Lebanon, the methods developed and adopted in this work will be applicable globally and offer benefits for the mapping of landslide hazards in the community worldwide.