Preface

The idea for Landslides and Engineering Geology of the Seattle, Washington, Areagrew out of a major landslide disaster that occurred in the Puget Sound region at the beginning of 1997. Unusually heavy snowfall in late December 1996 followed by warm, intense rainfall on 31 December through 2 January 1997 produced hundreds of damaging landslides in communities surrounding Puget Sound. This disaster resulted in significant efforts of the local geotechnical community and local governments to repair the damage and to mitigate the effects of future landslides. The magnitude of the disaster attracted the attention of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which was just beginning a large multihazards project for Puget Sound. The USGS immediately added a regional study of landslides to that project. Soon a partnership formed between the City of Seattle and the USGS to assess landslide hazards of Seattle.