Landslides pose the largest risks to those who can least afford them

Landslides in the United States cause billions of dollars of damage and can take dozens of lives each year. In Appalachia, a hotspot of landslides, that hazard is exacerbated by poverty, new research shows.

A new study, published July 29 in Earth’s Future , is one of the first to break down the socioeconomics of who lives with landslides in the United States. The researchers found that people living where landslides are most likely to occur are those who are least able to afford to move or to mitigate that risk.

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“It’s a really important advance,” said Ben Mirus, a geologist with…

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