A near-real-time public mass movement catalogue for Switzerland

Since mid 2023, the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) maintain a public list of mass movements occurring in and around the Swiss Alpine region.We include all events that can be detected and characterised by the national monitoring service, limiting the list to only larger events. The SED operate a seismic network that includes over 400 seismic stations in and around the Swiss territory. Sites in the alps include about 40 broadband sensors in low noise hard rock vault conditions, as well as strong motions stations in Alpine valleys.

The network is optimised to detect earthquakes, but due to the station density, we also detect mass movements. Within minutes to hours of their occurrence, seismologists review all automatic events and if a landslide source is suspected, events are indicated as such and immediately made available, with approximate location and magnitude, but precise information on origin time. This information is also shared with a wide community of scientists and civil authorities in the Swiss domain. If a mass movement is confirmed either via this expert group or through the media, the event is labelled as confirmed and the location is fixed. In this presentation we will present the catalogue and how it has evolved over time; describe how we detect and characterise events; and demonstrate the growing importance and profile of this valuable new information resource.