Descripción y uso del mapa nacional de índidce de riesgo por deslizamientos de terreno

Landslides are among the most important natural disasters in Cuba, especially in mountainous areas. In order to reduce landslide losses, and due to the scarce knowledge about this type of event in Cuba, the National Civil Defense requested a national assessment of landslide hazards and risks. This paper explains the procedure carried out to fulfill the national assessment over 110,860 km2, covering the Cuban archipelago at a 90m spatial resolution. A semi-quantitative landslide risk model was designed and implemented using 11 indicators in a GIS with spatial multi-criteria techniques. Each indicator was processed, analyzed and standardized according to the model. Weights were assigned to the indicators using direct, pairwise comparison matrix and ranking methods in order to obtain the index map of landslide risk. The average index of landslide risk was 0.12 (SD: 0.06) with values ranging from 0.0216 to 0.4600.

The results were analyzed per physiographic regions and administrative boundaries (provincial and municipal). It was found that Sierra Maestra has the higher concentration of landslide risk index values, while in Nipe-Cristal-Baracoa system the values are higher, but more spread. Provinces and municipalities with higher risk index values and larger coverage in these areas were recognized. Results obtained allowed designing an appropriated mitigation plan for landslide risk at national level.