Landslides are one of the most wide

Landslides are one of the most widespread natural hazards on Earth. In the U.S. alone landslides occur in
every state, causing an estimated $2 billion in damage and 25–50 deaths each year (USGS, 2006). Annual
average loss of life from landslide hazards in Japan is 170 (Sidle and Ochiai, 2006). The situation is much
worse in developing countries and remote mountainous regions due to lack of financial resources and
inadequate disaster management ability. Recently, a landslide, triggered by "La Nina" rains, buried an
entire village on the Philippines Island of Leyte on Feb 17, 2006, with at least 1,800 reported deaths and
only 3 houses left standing of the original 300. A precipitation analysis using multiple satellites (Huffman