Landslides in Mexico: their occurrence and social impact since 1935

Abstract

Landslide inventories are extremely important. They are vital for hazard analyses. This article presents an inventory of landslides in Mexico from 1935 to 2017. Although landslide monitoring studies exist in specific areas of the country, so far, no historical catalog has been published that provides a basis for spatial-temporal analysis and determining impact in terms of the loss of human lives. The reported events were categorized as the following types of displacements: fall, landslide, and complex movement and flow; data were standardized and stored using SPSS software. In addition, estimates were produced to ascertain the number of people who may have been affected by landslides in 2019 based on their relationship with marginalization levels at the national level, as elaborated by the National Population Council (CONAPO). Marginalization degrees represent the exclusion of a population from development through socioeconomic inequalities that manifest themselves as low income and the lack of education, health, infrastructure, and access to basic services. It was found that localities with high and very high marginalization levels account for almost half of the landslides over 82 years. This study reveals new findings in terms of the spatial distribution of events and the affected populations that are considered a valuable contribution to the study of landslides in Mexico.