A new map shows where landslides have happened across Alaska

For years, a national database that tracks and maps landslides has had a major hole: Alaska.

That’s about to change. The state released a database this week that pinpoints where thousands of slides have happened in the past. The aim is to better understand the risk and prepare for the future.

It’s a crucial tool that will help communities, researchers and government agencies “start extrapolating if there are certain slope angles with certain soil types or rock types that are more susceptible than others,” said Jillian Nicolazzo, a geologist with the state’s Landslide Hazards Program.

Staff at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources created the inventory over the last three years by poring over more than 1,000 geologic reports, most of which date back to the 1950’s.

Those reports