Geoscientists Without Borders^®

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: "Risk Assessment and Advance Warning Project for Landslides in Brazil"

Partners: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, and Universidade Federal do Pará

Summary: Every year, many states in Brazil suffer severe socioeconomic problems due to landslides and floods caused by heavy rain and resulting ground saturation. During the rainy season, residents of slums and hillsides in Brazil are put on alert as landslides, floods, and outbreaks of leptospirosis occur (especially in the regions lacking infrastructure and basic sanitation), leading to the tragic loss of thousands of lives. In addition, these disasters cause widespread infrastructure damage to buildings, roads, and utilities such as electricity, telephone systems, sewage, and drinking water. There are a number of government programs created across Brazil to deal with both the technical and humanitarian aspects of the landslides issue. However, new areas of risk develop faster than the government can implement these programs, which results in new tragedies occurring every year in the country. Landslides are one of the most commonly occurring natural disasters. Global damages range in the billions of dollars and cost hundreds of lives each year.

The question of how to avoid or minimize such disasters, given the current socioeconomic conditions in Brazil, remains to be answered. The goal of this project is to use existing data and gather new geophysical, geological, civil engineering, and meteorological data to study, classify, and monitor areas that pose a high risk of landslides in the Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil. The primary focus will be on one of the most recent areas affected by landslides, the mountainous central northern region of the Rio de Janeiro state.

Point of Contact: Dr. Aibing Li, Associate Professor of Geophysics - ali2@mail.uh.edu or Laura C. Azevedo, M.Sc. candidate - Lauazevedo@hotmail.com