Puerto Rico landslides: U-M expert available

EXPERT ADVISORY Hurricane Fiona knocked out power across Puerto Rico and unleashed floods and landslides. With its mountainous terrain, frequent earthquakes and a tropical climate prone to extreme weather, Puerto Rico is known as a hotspot for landslides. Hurricane Maria struck the island in September 2017 and triggered more than 70,000 landslides across the island. A University of Michigan expert is available to discuss Puerto Rico landslides. Geomorphologist and geophysicist Marin Clark is a professor and chair in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She measures and interprets Earth surface processes that shape mountains over geological time and that trigger disasters during earthquakes and major storms. In particular, she studies the mechanisms that initiate landsliding and develops models that predict future landslide hazards.