NASA video shows every rain-caused landslide since 2007

Monday, August 31, 2015, 1:16 PM - Hilly or mountainous areas are at risk of landslides when the rainy season rolls around, and a new video from NASA shows where these disasters are most common.

We say "disaster" due to the sheer number of deaths, which NASA says is in the tens of thousands over the last eight years.

"Landslides are one of the most dangerous natural hazards on the planet. Between 2007 and 2015, there were more than 25,000 reported deaths due to rainfall-triggered landslides around the world," writers at NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio say.

NASA says most fatalities happen during the northern hemisphere in the summer, and are more numerous during times of tropical cyclones and monsoons. Not surprisingly, the most frequent landslides are along the planet's most mountainous areas, like the Himalayas and East Asian nations like China, Indonesia and the Philippines. In Canada and the United States, the mountainous west and the Appalachians are the hotspots.

Every time a new landslide pops into being in NASA's visualization, its size and hue tell the story beyond the location. 

A brighter shade of pink shows how long it's been since the last landslide, giving you a sense of frequency, while the size of the circle shows the number of deaths, and it seems Asia takes the lion's share, while North American and European landslides, as a whole, claim fewer lives.

This isn't an idle exercise. NASA says scientists are studying landslide data to determine where they're likeliest to happen, potentially saving future lives.

We've featured the work of NASA's Data Visualization Studio before. Take a look at the video below, showing how garbage dumped into the ocean ends up in massive patches:

SOURCE: NASA Data Visualization Studio