LANDSLIDE AND EARTHQUAKE HAZARD ASSESSMENT AND COMMUNICATION IN KENTUCKY

Landslides and earthquakes pose threats to communities, infrastructure, and life in Kentucky. Assessing these hazards at a university-based state geological survey requires focusing on solving geologic questions, but also expanding collaboration with research partners and stakeholders who can supplement the geological survey’s existing expertise.

Landslide research at the Kentucky Geological Survey includes maintaining a statewide landslide inventory, conducting site-specific field monitoring, and developing LiDAR applications to identify landslide occurrences and susceptibility. Landslide inventories provide a qualitative, spatial evaluation of known landslides and serve as a basis for hazard assessment and risk reduction. Recent landslide monitoring projects investigate soil hydrology and slope movement, serving to support slope-stability studies. LiDAR has improved our ability to map landslides and create landslide susceptibility models, and will be a tool for detecting changes, providing evidence of landslide occurrence over time.

Earthquake research at KGS includes maintaining a seismic network, identifying potential sources, assessing scenario ground-motion hazards and site-effect, and assessing potential social and economic impacts. A seismic and strong-motion network is a joint operation of KGS and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, both at the University of Kentucky. The network consists of 17 seismic stations and 15 strong-motion stations that provide data to estimate levels of ground motion and amplification of soft sediments.

These projects involve collaborations with state, federal, or university partners, who support the goals of scientific investigation and communication. A positive result of these efforts is a KGS project that assists the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management in updating the geologic hazards portion of the state hazard mitigation plan. The plan is part of a FEMA condition for receiving disaster assistance. The update draws on the expertise of qualified KGS researchers, who provide a scientifically valid assessment of Kentucky’s geologic hazards. It is critical that hazard assessments be produced with the best science, but also be clearly communicated to users and decision-makers.