USGS Landslide Disaster Assistance Team (LDAT): Reducing risk through international partnerships

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Disaster Assistance Team (LDAT) collaborates with international counterparts to reduce landslide risk through technical training and emergency response. LDAT assists foreign partners, upon request, with developing landslide mapping, monitoring and response products and protocols. LDAT draws from USGS scientists and partners with countries globally. LDAT is currently engaging in a range of technical assistance activities in Chile, El Salvador, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Guatemala, Peru, and Sri Lanka. In this extended abstract, three examples of recent international landslide collaborations are showcased for FSM and with the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (MARN) in El Salvador, and the Mineral Resources Department (MRD) in Fiji. These efforts range from USGS- produced landslide initiation and runout maps (FSM) to feedback on independently led efforts to create national susceptibility maps (El Salvador), to trainings focused on building in-country landslide technical programs (Fiji). The LDAT partnerships help foreign partners reduce risk from landslides. The partnerships also help USGS scientists develop important international relationships that foster collaboration and broader understanding of landslides, which help advance the domestic USGS mission of reducing landslide risks.