An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Landslides and Risk Management: A case study from earthquake-affected Kashmir

The October 8, 2005 earthquake (EQ), measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale caused an estimated 73,000 casualties and triggered an estimated 1,000 landslides affecting a large number of communities in surrounding steep mountain valleys. Landslides remain a great threat to communities, especially during heavy rainfall and July/August monsoon rains (GSP 2007a, Petley et al. 2006). The goal of this article is to describe an interdisciplinary methodology and findings from a one-year study of landslides and underlying factors rooted in land use and land use strategies that affect the vulnerability of communities in Neelum Valley, northeast of Muzaffarabad, in earthquake-affected Kashmir. Main findings of data collected on 100 landslides, 17 crack zones and 3 flood areas demonstrate a predominance of grazing, deforestation and road construction as “preparatory factors” (Crozier 1986). The study used a Quickbird image to map landslides triggered by the earthquake and field work to map post-earthquake landslides; a landslide susceptibility map based on Landsat images and DEM data; a socio-economic survey of two villages to understand risk perceptions and land use strategies