Controlling factors resulting in decreases in landslide fatalities: a case study in Kure City, Japan

Yoshinori Shinohara () and Chiharu Shimomura
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Yoshinori Shinohara: University of Miyazaki
Chiharu Shimomura: University of Miyazaki

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2025, vol. 121, issue 1, No 44, 1165-1182

Abstract: Abstract Decreasing landslide fatalities is an ongoing global goal. This study identifies factors that decreased the number of landslide fatalities from the 1945 to 1967 events and from the 1967 to 2018 events in Kure City, Japan. The numbers of fatalities (NF), landslides (NL), and collapsed houses (NH) were collected, and changes in NF and three features of NF (i.e., NL, NH/NL, and NF/NH) were examined for debris flows and steep-slope failures. Many check dams were constructed from 1945 to 1967, and NH/NL was smaller in 1967 than in 1945. Consequently, NF caused by debris flows was considerably smaller in 1967. The forest growing stock increased drastically from 1967 to 2018, and NL was smaller in 2018 than in 1967. In addition, NF/NH was smaller in 2018 than in 1967 because of the decrease in the average number of household members and the increase in the ratio of residential buildings built with non-wooden materials. Consequently, NF caused by steep-slope failures dropped to zero in 2018. Accordingly, the factors decreasing NF differed between 1945–1967 and 1967–2018. Although this difference has been observed throughout Japan, the timing of each factor contributing to the reduction in NF in Kure City differed from that observed for Japan overall. Kure City has experienced more severe landslide events and population reduction than other areas in Japan. Understanding the factors affecting landslide fatalities in Kure City could help in the mitigation of landslide disasters in other regions of Japan and worldwide.

Keywords: Landslide hazard; Landslide mortality; Landslide vulnerability; Land-use change; Social change; Structural measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-024-06816-6

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