The Landslide Blog is written by Dave Petley, who is widely recognized as a world leader in the study and management of landslides.
AFP has posted a very good overview of the hazards posed by landslides in the capital city of Bolivia, La Paz (unfortunately it cannot be embedded). Located at a high elevation, characterised by steep slopes and with very active geological and geomorphological processes, the terrain in La Paz is highly susceptible to landslides. The video articulates the ways in which socio-economic circumstances, and in particular well-meaning government policies, drive up landslide risk. To address a housing deficit, the government seeks to provide land ownership to people occupying land illegally. Thus, people are incentivised to remain living in dangerous locations.
The Think Hazard website highlights La Paz as having high landslide hazard. There’s also a really good, easily understood, article from a couple of decades ago (O’Hare and Rivas 2005) that discussed the underlying reasons for the high levels of landslide risk in La Paz.
There are two good examples of the impact of landslides in La Paz. Back in 2011, a major failure occurred in the Callapa district, which destroyed about 400 homes. Google Earth has good imagery before and after the failure:-
And this is an image compare of the site:-
Then, in November of 2024, a landslide in the Bajo Llojeta suburb of La Paz destroyed 24 homes and induced flooding in the Pasajahuira River that affected a further 40 properties. Sadly, a 5-year-old girl was killed. This part of La Paz also suffered from a major landslide in 2019.
Twenty years ago, O’Hare and Rivas (2005) concluded their article as follows:
“In view of the attempts to reduce hazard risk in the south of the city, there is a real need to seek new approaches to hazard mitigation and to policies of sustainable development for the poor and marginalized groups living in the northern city. Strategies will need to embrace the examination of possible future changes in the frequency, duration and intensity of the landslide event …”
“Also under scrutiny are the technical resources available to raise the region’s or community’s ability to cope with the effects of the landslide hazard. This may take the form of greater locally based support, such as sharing strategies adopted by the
community in the face of the disaster . There may also need to be greater municipal and national assistance to help victims set up new livelihoods when they are displaced to new areas in the aftermath of the landslide. Finally, there needs to be
real and long-term structural solutions offered by governments from the richer nations with regard to hazard management and preparedness, with the
installation of physical structures such as drains, culverts, terracing and slope support. Unless the La Paz municipal authorities can raise the adaptive capacities, or coping abilities, of those living in the most unstable areas of the city, landslides will continue to damage lives and livelihoods, and thus the long-term development prospects of the poorest communities and groups”
These words still apply today. Unfortunately, it is likely that I will be writing about landslide crises in La Paz on this blog for many years to come.
Reference
O’ Hare, G. and Rivas, S. 2005. The landslide hazard and human vulnerability in
La Paz City, Bolivia. Geographical Journal, 171 [3], 239-258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00163.x