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Landslides in Pakistan administered Kashmir:

Strengthening of disaster risk reduction at community and district levels in hazard-prone areas of Pakistan administered Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Project Team:
Prof. Dr. Marcus Nüsser
Dipl. Geogr. Thomas Lennartz

Duration: 2008 - 2009
Funding: Federal Foreign Office Germany, Malteser International
Project number: PN2197

The October 2005 Kashmir Earthquake triggered several thousand landslides and caused extensive fissuring of substrata, resulting in further threats to people and infrastructure by subsequent landslides resulting from snowmelt and torrential rains. The experience gained from the Kashmir Earthquake clearly indicates that mitigating future impact of similar hazardous events requires both, adequate building structures and improved land use planning which should be based on sound knowledge of regional landslide susceptibility. To provide the local and regional stakeholders with improved knowledge on the spatial probability of landslide occurrence is the major objective of the present project in the Union Council Komi Kot of Muzaffarabad District. Our research approach combines a short field trip with the interpretation of high resolution satellite imagery (Quickbird) and statistical analyses within a geographical information system (GIS).

In the field (Akhtar Hussain Dec. 2008).
Large landslide along the Jhelum River (M. Nüsser Dec. 2008).
Selected publications
  • NÜSSER, M., LENNARTZ, T. & SCHMIDT, S. (2010): Stability and Instability of Slopes in an Earthquake-affected Area of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In: Die Erde 141 (3): 187-215.