Landslide

GeoNet maintains a rapid response capability for landslides in New Zealand, and is currently compiling a landslide database for the country.

Kelson landslide, Wellington 2006.

GeoNet and Landslides

GeoNet maintains a rapid response capability for landslides in New Zealand. The rapid response team consists mainly of engineering geologists and geotechnical engineers. The aim is to have team members mobilised within 24 hours of a major event. The criteria for activating a rapid response are landslides that cause any of the following:

• death or serious injury;
• subsequent catastrophic events (such as the breach of a landslide dam);
• direct damage of greater than NZ$1 million;
• economic losses of greater than NZ$10 million;
• threats to public health (such as contaminated water supplies);
• significant research interest.
  

The purpose of these missions is to ensure that appropriate advice is available to maximise public safety, and to collect reliable and consistent landslide information.

Landslide Catalogue and Inventory

Information on significant New Zealand landslides since 1996 is currently being compiled into a catalogue. This includes the date, the geographic location, the size and any resulting damage. This will be a supplement to the landslide inventory, a list of all New Zealand's known landslides; together they will form the New Zealand landslide database.