Oso Landslide Computer Simulations

A large destructive landslide occurred near Oso, Washington on March 22, 2014. Computer simulations indicate that it could have behaved very differently (with much less mobility and consequent destructiveness) if the ground had been less porous and water-saturated. This video shows the results of two computer simulations. The first simulation shows computed landslide behavior that best matches that observed at Oso. An alternative simulation shows landslide behavior that could have occurred if the water-saturated ground had been slightly less porous. Details on the Oso landslide and these computer simulations are in Landslide mobility and hazards: implications of the 2014 Oso disaster, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2014 (doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2014.12.020).