After a landslide, you should:

Stay away from the slide area. There may be danger of additional slides. Listen carefully for cracking sounds from trees or debris falling down the scar surface of the slope. Stay back from the slide area.

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Check for injured and trapped persons and animals near the slide, without entering the slide area. Direct rescuers to their locations—the window of opportunity for survival is generally estimated at two hours.

Help people who require special assistance—infants, elderly people, those without transportation, large families who may need additional help in an emergency situation, people with disabilities, and the people who care for them. Take them to a relief or operations centre where they can be cared for.

Listen to local stations on a portable, battery-powered radio or television for the latest emergency information.

Watch for flooding, which may occur after a landslide or debris flow. Floods sometimes follow landslides and debris flows.		Check your home’s foundation and surrounding land for damage.

Look for and report broken utility lines to appropriate authorities. Reporting potential hazards will get the utilities turned off as quickly as possible, preventing further hazard and injury. Be especially careful of live electricity cables which may come into contact with water from flooded areas.		Listen out for instructions from the On-Site Commander or your Relief Centre representative on evacuation, food delivery, road access, and resumption of basic services. Secondary landslides may occur due to instability of the ground caused by the first landslide, so don’t assume that you are out of danger. Listen for broadcasts issued by the police.

Tips for helping your community recover faster

Get to know your neighbors and organize community activities on a regular basis. In addition to the positive social aspects of community life, ‘being connected’ helps residents get organize quickly and mobilize faster in cases of emergency. Your community members’ roles and responsibilities, chain of command, channels of communication, and identification of vulnerable residents (the elderly, disabled and/or sickly) are well-established even before disaster strikes.

Be pro-active. Ask authorities how your community can be a part of the early warning monitoring system to prevent recurrences.

Learn about the risks and hazards in your area. The more you know, the better prepared you will be. Find out about the geology and the landslide history of your area.

Replant damaged ground as soon as possible because erosion caused by loss of ground cover can lead to flash flooding and additional landslips.