MAIN LANDSLIDE EVENTS

Update date
Authors

Elisa Brustia, Gianluigi Di Paola, Carla Iadanza, Paolo Primerano, Alessandro Trigila

Abstract

The indicator provides information on the main landslide events that caused fatalities, injuries, evacuations, and damage to buildings, cultural heritage assets, primary linear communication infrastructures, and service networks across the national territory over the past year. In 2024, there were 185 major landslide events, resulting in 5 deaths, 18 injuries, and predominantly causing damage to the road network and buildings.

Description

The indicator provides information on the main landslide events that have occurred on the national territory in the last year. Major landslide events are defined as those which caused deaths/missing people, injuries, evacuees and damage to buildings, cultural assets, primary linear communication infrastructures and service infrastructures/networks. A main landslide event can also refer to multiple landslides triggered in a given area, in a given time interval (generally within 24 hours) and caused by the same triggering factor (rainfall event, earthquake). The parameters collected are: the date of the event, the location of the landslide (locality, municipality, province, region), the description and the damage. The data is taken from technical reports drawn up by ISPRA, regions and autonomous provinces, ARPA, Civil Protection, Functional Centres, CNR, local authorities, from Autostrade, ANAS and FS press releases and from news sources. From 2010 to 2020, in previous releases of the database and in related publications, the indicator appears with the name "Landslide events".

Purpose

Provide a picture of the main landslide events that have occurred in the last year on the national territory following meteorological-pluviometric, seismic or anthropogenic causes.

Policy relevance and utility for users
It is of national scope or applicable to environmental issues at the regional level but of national significance.
It is simple and easy to interpret.
It is sensitive to changes occurring in the environment and/or human activities
It provides a representative overview of environmental conditions, environmental pressures, and societal responses.
It provides a basis for international comparisons
Analytical soundness
Be theoretically well founded in technical and scientific terms
Measurability (data)
Adequately documented and of known quality
Readily available or made available at a reasonable cost/benefit ratio
An “adequate” spatial coverage
Main regulatory references and objectives

Collection, processing, archiving and dissemination of data regarding soil protection and hydrogeological instability referring to the entire national territory (articles 55 and 60 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 “Regulations on environmental matters”); update of the Inventory of Landslide Phenomena in Italy (art. 6, paragraph 1 letter g of Law 132/2016).

DPSIR
State
Impact
Indicator type
Descriptive (A)
References

ISPRA - Trigila A., Lastoria B., Iadanza C., Bussettini M., Mariani S., D'Ascola F., Salmeri A., Cassese M. L., Pesarino V., Di Paola G., Romeo S., Rischia I., Dessì B., Spizzichino D., Licata V., Gallozzi P. L. (2025) Hydrogeological instability in Italy: hazards and risk indicators - 2024 Edition.  Reports 415/2025.

Limitations

The indicator reports only the main landslide events on the national territory that caused damage to people, buildings, cultural heritage, primary communication infrastructures and service infrastructures/networks.

Further actions

-

Data source

ARPA/APPA (Regional and Autonomous Province Agencies for Environmental Protection)

CNR

Infrastructure management bodies

ISPRA

Civil Protection

Autonomous Provinces

Regions

Internet sites

Data collection frequency
Continuos
Data availabilty

Event reports on the websites of autonomous regions and provinces, ARPA, Civil Protection, Functional Centres, CNR, local authorities; Press releases on the Autostrade, ANAS and FS websites; Online news sources.

Spatial coverage

National, regional, provincial, municipal

Time coverage

2010-2024

Core SET
SDGs Indicators
8° Programma di azione per l’Ambiente Europeo (8° EAP)
7° Programma di azione per l’Ambiente Europeo (7° EAP) - Dati sull’ambiente
SDG goals
Goal 1: Zero poverty
Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
Goal 13: Climate action
Processing methodology

For each year, the sum of the dead/missing and injured was calculated and the types of damage (to buildings, cultural heritage, primary linear communication infrastructures and service infrastructures/networks) produced by the main landslide events that occurred on the national territory were identified. If the source only reports the number of evacuated families, the number of evacuated people was obtained using a coefficient equal to 2.3 members per family.

Update frequency
Year
Data quality

The indicator responds to the demand for information regarding the number of main landslide events that occurred in the last year on the national territory and the damage caused by them; provides a basis for international comparisons. Comparability in time and space are limited by the partial lack of homogeneity of the data and acquisition methods.

Status
Undefinable
Trend
Undefinable
State assessment/description

In 2024, the main landslide events totalled 185, causing 5 deaths, 18 injuries, and predominantly damaging the road network and buildings.

Trend assessment/description

Fluctuations in the yearly number of major recorded landslide events from 2010 to 2024 are linked to annual precipitation patterns, the occurrence of significant seismic events, and the previously mentioned inconsistencies in baseline data and data-collection methods. At present, it is not possible to assess a trend for the indicator due to the limited length of the available historical series and the partial heterogeneity of the underlying data and acquisition methods.

Comments

Between January and December 2024, 185 major landslide events occurred, causing 5 deaths, 18 injuries, and predominantly damaging the road network and buildings (Figure 1 and Table 1). Major landslide events are distributed across much of the Italian territory, particularly in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and in the regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, Veneto, and the Autonomous Province of Trento.
Among the main landslide events in 2024 are:

  • the debris flow triggered by intense rainfall on the afternoon of 29 June, which affected the settlement of Pecetto in the municipality of Macugnaga (VB), completely blocking the channel of the Tambach Torrent;
  • the rapid flow of mud and debris that on 27 August swept away a motorized tricycle carrying two people in the hamlet of Talanico in San Felice a Cancello (CE); the high rainfall intensity, the complex local topography, and the presence of slopes recently affected by wildfires contributed to the formation of the fast-moving mud and debris flow;
  • the rockfall on 30 August that led to the temporary closure of both directions of State Road 18 “Tirrena Inferiore” at km 515.000 in Scilla (Reggio Calabria);
  • the landslide that on 12 September originated from Monte Pendolo and affected the settlement of Gragnano (NA), resulting in around 40 displaced residents and the closure of several roads; extensive forested areas of the mountain had been devastated by a major wildfire the previous August;
  • the collapse on 10 October along the Brenner State Road (SS12) at km 421+400 in the municipality of Ora (BZ), involving an approximately 8 m³ block that reached the roadway and struck a truck;
  • the reactivation of the Cà di Sotto landslide (1994) in San Benedetto Val di Sambro (BO) on 21 October 2024, with sliding in the head-scarp area evolving into an earth flow from the mid-slope down to the foot; the Sambro Torrent was fully dammed, and several homes were evacuated.

Between 2010 and 2024, the provinces most affected by major landslide events were Bolzano, Genoa, Salerno, Trento, Belluno, Messina, and Aosta, each with more than 55 major events (Figure 2).
As for the economic quantification of damages caused by landslides and the allocated resources, only aggregated flood + landslide data are generally available (see Environmental Indicators Database – Flood Events), making it impossible to derive figures for individual landslide events or annual totals.

Data
Data
Headline

Table 1: Major landslide events in 2024

Data source

ISPRA processing based on data from SNPA, Regions, Autonomous Provinces, Civil Protection, CNR, Infrastructure Managing Authorities, and websites

Note

For the Autonomous Province of Bolzano, data are derived from systematic field surveys conducted by the Province’s technical offices.

Thumbnail
Headline

Figure 1: Main landslide events between January and December 2024

Data source

ISPRA

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Headline

Figure 2: Number of major landslide events in the period 2010–2024 by province

Data source

ISPRA