An Appraisal on Ongoing Practices for Landslide Early Warning Systems in Selected South and East Asian Countries

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that Asia is the world’s most disaster prone region, with nearly two-thirds of global disaster mortality and morbidity occurring within the region. The IPCC Working Group II noted that heavy precipitation events are very likely to increase in frequency and will augment the multi-hazard risk scenario in most of the countries. Extreme weather events, such as cloud bursts and heavy concentrated rainfall, especially in some parts of Asia, have been blamed for loss of life and property in the region. Landslides have been triggered during these events causing further casualties.

In consideration of the aforementioned events, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in collaboration with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) in Oslo, Norway is implementing a “Regional Project” on sharing best practices for early warning of landslides with participation from 11 countries. The project, which is financed by the government of Norway, includes the countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippine, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This ongoing project aims to document, share, enhance and develop sound practices for early warning of landslides for sustainable development in affected areas. This is currently being achieved through gathering of data from existing approaches and through formation of joint working groups to identify critical factors and disseminate knowledge from participating countries.

This paper describes the current status of landslide early warning systems in the participating countries with emphasis on the identification of critical elements for an effective early warning approach.