The role of climate in promoting landslides in the seismic area of the Appennines, Southern Italy

Abstract

The study area is located in Southern Italy, southeast of Naples (Figure 1). The phenomena of slope instability and floods have long been a constant feature in this portion of the Apennines, with earthquakes and meteoric events accounting for the main triggering factors. Landslides have often resulted in dreadful economic and human losses. A magnitude-6.8 earthquake that triggered many large landslides hit the study area on November 23, 1980. A number of geological, geomorphological, hydrological and geotechnical features of the study area are examined in detail in the final technical report of an EEC research project (EEC 1996). This paper examines the space distribution of rainfall and temperature accounting for the distribution of landslides before the earthquake on 23 November 1980 and the changes occurred afterwards. The major climatic elements, namely monthly precipitation and temperature, are analysed with geostatistic methods and discussed. The space variability is compared to the landslide proneness distribution within the area.