Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Landslide risk in the San Francisco Bay region

January 1, 2008

We have used historical records of damaging landslides triggered by rainstorms, and a newly developed Probabilistic Landslide Assessment Cost Estimation System (PLACES), to estimate the numbers and direct costs of future landslides in the San Francisco Bay region. The estimated annual cost of future landslides in the entire region is about US $15 million (year 2000 $). The estimated annual cost is highest for San Mateo County ($3.32 million) and lowest for Solano County ($0.18 million). Normalizing costs by dividing by the percentage of land area with slopes equal or greater than about 10° indicates that San Francisco County will have the highest cost per square km ($7,400), whereas Santa Clara County will have the lowest cost per square km ($230). These results indicate that the San Francisco Bay region has one of the highest levels of landslide risk in the United States. Compared to landslide cost estimates from the rest of the world, the risk level in the Bay region seems high, but not exceptionally high.

Publication Year 2008
Title Landslide risk in the San Francisco Bay region
Authors J. A. Coe, R. A. Crovelli
Publication Type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Index ID 70045052
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geologic Hazards Science Center
Was this page helpful?