Map of landslides triggered by the January 12, 2010, Haiti earthquake

Abstract

The magnitude (M) 7.0 Haiti earthquake of January 12, 2010, triggered landslides throughout much of Haiti on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea. The epicenter of the quake was located at 18.44N., 72.57W. at a depth of 13 kilometers (km) approximately 25 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Although estimates vary widely, the most reliable surveys of casualties indicate that the earthquake caused 158,679 fatalities and more than 300,000 injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey compared publicly available satellite imagery acquired both before and after the earthquake and mapped 23,567 landslides that were triggered by the strong shaking. Our mapping from aerial photography and satellite imagery was augmented by field observations.