Overview
- A University of Washington team published the study on July 29, 2026 and released the Landslide Exposure Database that rates roughly 128 million U.S. buildings and finds about 6.5 million people live on or near landslide‑prone slopes.
- The database was built by merging USGS landslide‑susceptibility maps with nationwide building footprints, nighttime occupancy estimates and Census socioeconomic data to count exposed residents and measure recovery capacity.
- Most exposed people live in two concentrated regions — Appalachia and the U.S. West Coast — and rural residents make up about 62% of those in landslide terrain while tending to have fewer resources to recover.
- The authors note key limits: the study uses nighttime occupancy only so it omits daytime exposure, it does not model landslide frequency or probability, and landslide hazard can vary over tens of meters.
- Researchers say the tool can guide region‑specific actions such as early‑warning systems and resilience funding in Appalachia or land‑use regulation in wealthy hillside cities, and they warn that more intense rain, drought and wildfire tied to climate change could raise future landslide risk.