Italy and Japan investigate landslide hazards on the Noto Peninsula

Professor Fausto Guzzetti of Durham University's Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience is visiting Japan as part of a bilateral research project on landslide detection and disaster risk reduction. From 5 to 7 October 2026, he joined Italian and Japanese researchers on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, where fieldwork examined a landscape affected first by a major earthquake and later by exceptional rainfall.

On 1 January 2024, the magnitude 7.6 Noto Peninsula earthquake triggered widespread landslides, rockfalls and landslide dams, damaging settlements, roads and river channels. While recovery was under way, heavy rain between 20 and 22 September 2024 brought more than 500 millimetres of precipitation to some locations and caused hundreds of landslides in Ishikawa Prefecture. Together, the events show how hazards can cascade when intense rainfall affects terrain already disturbed by seismic shaking.

The visit forms part of the 2025-2027 joint project Advancing landslide detection methods for disaster risk reduction, supported through the bilateral programme between the Italian National Research Council and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The project is developing more rapid and reliable ways to identify landslides by combining field evidence, satellite Earth observation, remote sensing and data-driven methods.

The Italian delegation is led by Dr Alessandro Cesare Mondini, Senior Researcher at CNR-IMATI. The Japanese delegation is led by Professor Takashi Oguchi at the University of Tokyo and Professor Mio Kasai at Hokkaido University.

Field visits with experts from Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries allowed the researchers to examine earthquake- and rainfall-induced landslides directly. Comparing ground observations with evidence from satellite imagery helps the team assess how different detection approaches perform in a complex, heavily affected landscape. The field visits also allowed the researchers to examine Japan's approach to post-disaster remedial works. They observed a large-scale engineering effort led by the Japanese government to reduce landslide risk, alongside rapid progress in restoring damaged infrastructure across the peninsula.

Following the fieldwork, Professor Guzzetti and Dr Mondini will deliver invited lectures in Tokyo as part of the Japan Society of Erosion Control Engineering International Seminar Series in Chiyoda City on 8 October 2026. Professor Guzzetti will speak on Anticipating landslides and their consequences, addressing the scientific challenges involved in forecasting landslide occurrence, magnitude and impact.

The visit strengthens cooperation among researchers and practitioners in Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. Knowledge gained in Noto will support the development of better methods for detecting landslides, directing post-disaster investigations and reducing risk in other earthquake- and rainfall-prone regions.

Photo credit: AI-assisted composite created with OpenAI's image-generation tool using field photographs and the Suzu map supplied by Professor Fausto Guzzetti. Lecture details adapted from his seminar title slide; composition and visual elements modified.

Photo caption: Photomontage of landslide-affected slopes and a damaged road on the Noto Peninsula, set against the Suzu map, with details of Professor Fausto Guzzetti's invited lecture in Tokyo on 8 October 2026.