Landslides vulnerability analysis in Camaragibe city-state of Pernambuco as a support for risk management

Abstract

Vulnerability assessment is a key element of disaster risk reduction, considering that the landslides affect the population in a differentiated way, that is, those in a more precarious situation are more impacted. In the state of Pernambuco, there are several slums at landslides risk, especially, in the Metropolitan Region of Recife (RMR), where the city of Camaragibe is located. Thus, the objective of this work is to analyze the landslides vulnerability in densely occupied areas in the “neighborhood of Estados”, Camaragibe (PE). A second objective looked for to evaluate the topographical parameters role (natural threats) in triggering landslides. We generate topographic maps of slope, curvature and aspect using a high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Based on an landslides inventory, we performed a joint analysis using the Frequency of Distribution (FD) and Concentration of Landslide (CL) indexes. Vulnerability was mapped using the criteria proposed by the Social Vulnerability Index (IVS), which uses the databases of the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA). Among the main results, the CL index indicated that there is a greater susceptibility to landslides on the steepest slopes (43.5%), concave (66.3%) and oriented to the North face (22.8%). The “neighborhood of Estados” presented an IVS equal to 0.443, considered of high vulnerability. The most vulnerable social groups still suffer the worst consequences of landslides, with catastrophic dimensions, indicating that a joint assessment between susceptibility (threat) and vulnerability is essential for an integral risk management.