Landslides susceptibility in central part of Albanian coast

In Albania, landslides are one of the most important natural hazards. In the last few years, landslides damaged buildings, destroyed farming lands and roads etc. For this reason, the regional landslide susceptibility assessments have crucial importance for the landslide – prone areas of Albania. The assessment of the landslide susceptibility is conducted by direct mapping techniques, considering the topography, geomorphology, lithology hydrogeology, earthquakes, anthropogenic actions, rainfalls, erosion, and also the distribution and the characteristics of the phenomena in the area. The zoning map of the area based on their susceptibility to landslide risk was compiled. Five levels of susceptibility are carried out in Durresi bay (central part of Albanian coast): high, medium-high, medium, medium-low and low risk. The high and medium-high susceptibility zones, in entire areas under study are controlled by slope inclination. But frequently, high and medium high susceptibilities, for similar geological settings, are situated also in gentle slopes, due to the inappropriate anthropogenic action. This map reveals very useful as a preliminary work in urban planning and technical preventative measures