Geological and economic extent of landslides in Japan and Korea

Ratio of casualties by landslides recently reaches 90 % though the total ones have been gradually decreasing. Annual economic loss by landslides is estimated to be 30 to 6000 billion yen. For mitigation of those landslide disasters, prediction of location and characteristics of landslides is necessary as well as time prediction. Geological zonation for landslides seems valuable for this purpose. Japanese Islands can be divided into 15 zones for landslides. Each zone shows characteristic distribution of landslides and landslide properties. Problems on landuse and necessary scientific studies are also discussed.