Facts
  • Landslides and rockfalls can be caused by freezing and thawing rock, heavy rains and lightning strikes.
  • In the U.S. landslides kill between 25 and 50 people annually. Casualties are primarily caused by rockfalls, rock slides, and debris flows.
  • Embankments along roadsides are particularly susceptible to landslides / rockfalls.

 

Causes of Injury
  • Falling rock and landslides can cause multiple traumatic injuries including lacerations, fractures, head injuries and spinal injuries.

 

Prevention
  • Seek high ground at the first sign of a thunder or lightning storm.
  • Avoid rock faces during temperature swings, heavy rains and lightning storms, particularly if you see rocky piles at their base.
  • Be alert for sounds of a rockfall: crashing, whistling or grinding sounds, (like the boulders knocking together, or stampeding herd of horses) ending in a loud crash and followed by sudden stillness.
  • When hiking with others, if you drop or dislodge a rock downslope, shout "Rock!" to alert the others.
  • If you sense a rock fall and cannot get clear, hug the slope and cover your head.

 

Planning / Packing Guide
  • Seek flat areas away from slopes and steep river banks.

 

Symptoms
  • Multiple injuries such as abrasions, cuts, lacerations, bruises, fractures, head and spinal injuries

 

First Aid

 

Related Links
  • Landslide Recognition and Safety Guidelines http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/elnino/landslide-guidelines.html