A landslide susceptibility assessment in urban areas based on existing data: an example from the Iguana Valley, Medellin City, Colombia

Fast urbanization and the morphological conditions of the Iguana River Basin, Medellin, Colombia have forced many people to settle on landslide prone slopes as evidenced by extensive landslide induced damage. In this study we used existing disaster databases (inventories) in order to examine the spatial and temporal variability of landsliding within this watershed. The spatial variability of landsliding was examined using expert-based and weighted landslide susceptibility models. The constructed landslide susceptibility maps demonstrate consistent results irrespective of the underlying method. These show that at least 55.9% of the watershed is highly or very highly susceptible to landsliding. In addition, the temporal distribution of landsliding was analyzed and compared with climatic data. Results show that the area has a distinct bimodal rainfall distribution, and it is clear that landsliding is particularly frequent during the later rainy season between October and November. Moreover, landslides are more common during La Nina years. It is recommended that the existing landslide inventories are improved so as to be of greater use in the future land use planning of the watershed. The construction of landslide susceptibility maps based on existing data represents a significant step towards landslide mitigation in the area. Using susceptibility and hazard assessment during the developmental process should lessen the need for disaster response at a later stage.