Michigan State University

ISP 203B

The Oso, Washington Landslide

1. How many people were killed, how many structures were destroyed, and what was the estimated cost of this

landslide disaster? (3 points)

2. For those of you who have Google Earth installed on your computer, you can look at the historical imagery

function of Google Earth to see what the landslide area looked like before March 22, 2013. If you do not have

Google Earth installed, an image from July 2013 can be downloaded by clicking here and an image from late

March 2014 can be downloaded by clicking here. These photos are also in the slides presented in lecture.

3. Briefly explain what happened during this landslide in 2014 (2 points)

4. What was the probable trigger for the 2014 landslide? (1 point)

5. Have any other landslides occurred in this area in the last 100 years? If so, when and where? (1 point)

6. Was anything done to mitigate against future landslides at this site? If so, what measures were taken or

considered? (2 point)

7. See the following article - http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/dating-landslides-around-oso-revealsrecurring-patterns