Introduction:

Landslides and earthquakes can cause immense damages and death. Together they can be even worse. Landslides, also known as mass wasting,  are defined as a downslope movement of rocks, soil or other debris. They can be classified as either fast or slow depending on the degree of the downward slope angle. These typically occur due to the oversteepening of land by such means as land development, mining or quarrying. Earthquakes occur when the tectonic plates under the Earth’s surface shift. This causes the surrounding areas to shake. Thankfully in New Jersey, the magnitude of earthquakes we feel are low magnitude. But it can never hurt to be prepared. 

Data:

There are multiple types of landslides that occur in New Jersey. Some examples include Debris flow, Rockfall, Rockslide and Slump. Along with landslides, there is also different magnitude ranges of earthquakes that occur. 

Results:

When looking at the data, it is apparent that there are more landslides than earthquakes in the surrounding areas of Madison, NJ. It shows that there are primarily  mostly Debris flow landslides that occur. There do seem to be some earthquakes that have landslides that occur in close proximity. In the surrounding areas, it seems that the earthquake magnitudes range from 1.31-2.30 and 2.31-3.30. 

There don’t seem to be any significant landslides or earthquakes that occur in Madison, but there are surrounding areas that suffer from both these events. 

Conclusion:

In the end, it is important to look at the correlation between earthquakes and landslides. Many earthquakes and landslides can be deadly to many and can damage surrounding areas. If there are landslides and earthquakes that cause catastrophic damages, it can destroy homes and buildings surrounding. This can lead to poverty, destruction of wildlife habitats and possibly a higher mortality rate.

Figure 1: Madison, NJ and surrounding areas Earthquake magnitude with Landslide characteristics.