Washington Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse

Current event

December 2025 Atmospheric River Landslides Clearinghouse

The Washington Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse has been activated as of Jan 23, 2026.

Natural resources staff evaluating landslide activity

Photo Credit: Esten King, Forest Regulation Division, Washington Department of Natural Resources

The Washington Geological Survey (WGS) has activated the December 2025 Atmospheric River Landslides Clearinghouse to coordinate the collection, analysis, and archiving of perishable geologic data following a major mid-December storm event. Led by Assistant Director for Geologic Hazards and Mapping Alex Steely and Landslide Hazards Group Manager Kate Mickelson, the activation focuses on documenting the extent of landslides in the Cascade Range and post-wildfire areas statewide through remote sensing and field reconnaissance. Partnering with agencies like the USGS, WSDOT, and others, the Clearinghouse will operate for an estimated 1-3 months, producing maps, data hubs, and outreach materials to support state emergency management. The mission is authorized under state law (RCW 43.92.900) and ensures that critical hazard data is captured without delaying existing agency deliverables.

For more information about the Washington Geological Survey's response to this event, read our blog post from Dec 19, 2025.

Accessing our Files and Data

If you are a Washington Geological Survey staff member or Clearinghouse collaborator, click the link below to access our Box account where you can view and upload files relating to the Clearinghouse. Note that this is for Clearinghouse-related personnel only. If you need access to this folder, contact clearinghouse@dnr.wa.gov.

Click here to access the Box file-sharing folder for Clearinghouse personnel

If you are a member of the public or other interested party not directly involved in the Clearinghouse, click the link below to access our public-facing Box folder. Here you will find files relating to Clearinghouse activities. Note that not all of our results will be immediately available here. We are working hard to collect data and conduct quality control. Once data have been organized and vetted, we will post them.

Click here to access our public-facing Box file-sharing folder

Weekly Updates

Check back every Thursday afternoon for a new update on Clearinghouse activities. Updates will continue to be provided as long as the Clearinghouse is active. For this event we anticipate activities continuing for the next few months.

Jan 29, 2026—This week we focused on collecting landslide data and event locations from external partners. An aerial reconnaissance mission was conducted in Skagit County on January 16, 2026, with a focus on the Darrington and Concrete areas. The data from this mission are currently being processed, and photos and event locations will be made public once processing is complete. In addition, a two-person geology team consisting of a WGS and USGS geologist is in the field this week collecting data and completing Landslide Clearinghouse forms in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. The remainder of the team is planning and preparing for fieldwork scheduled for next week in King, Snohomish, and Skagit Counties.

Where Have Landslides Been Identified From This Event

The interactive map below shows the locations of landslides gathered from the media and city, county, and state agencies. These are recently reported landslides that are assumed to have occurred during the December 2025 atmospheric river events. These points are a subset of our greater Recently Reported Landslides in Washington State inventory, which can be viewed on this map by turning off the filter in the top right corner of the map. When the map first loads, you will see a short message about the nature of the data provided. Press the Enter button to acknowledge the information and continue to the map.

Click here to open this web map in full screen mode.

Past event links

No past efforts.

The Clearinghouse Plan

The purpose, structure, and functions of the Washington Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse are described in detail in the Clearinghouse Plan (pdf). This is the original version of the plan, published February 2024.

Overview of the Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse

The Washington State Geologic Hazards Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) was established by the Washington Geological Survey (WGS) and partners in 2024 with the aim of providing state and federal disaster response managers, affected organizations, the scientific community, and the public with prompt information on the geologic impacts resulting from a significant geologic hazard event in our state. The Clearinghouse may be activated for hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, and volcanic unrest.

The Clearinghouse is a place for earth scientists, emergency managers, engineers, and other professionals representing various state agencies, federal bureaus, universities, and other interested public or private institutions to coordinate data collection and dissemination after a geologic hazard event. Clearinghouse staff also work to produce outreach materials that communicate geologic information to the public and all other partners. All data collected by the Clearinghouse is eventually archived and made publicly available.

Activation criteria

The Clearinghouse will only be activated following certain types of geologic hazard events. For any potentially activating event (as described below), the Clearinghouse will hold a call with the core committee members for the hazard to determine whether or not to activate the Clearinghouse. For events where there is advance warning or signs of geologic unrest (foreshocks, distant source tsunami, landslide activity/heavy precipitation event) the Clearinghouse can be put on standby mode, during which Clearinghouse staff will hold conference calls and prepare to activate.

The following types of hazard events would likely result in activation of the Clearinghouse:

Type of event	Activation criteria
Earthquake	Clearinghouse Management, led by the Earthquake committee, will hold a coordination call to discuss possible activation for any magnitude (M) 5.5 or greater earthquakes in Washington. The Clearinghouse can also be activated for earthquakes smaller than M5.5 or located outside of the State if there is damage to the built environment or important perishable data to collect.
Tsunami	Clearinghouse Management, led by the Tsunami committee, will hold a coordination call to discuss possible activation for any tsunami or seiche that causes damage or creates perishable geoscience information impacting Washington. In the case of a distant-source tsunami for which the National Tsunami Warning Center issues an alert at the Warning, Advisory, or Watch level for Washington State, the Clearinghouse may be put on standby mode to prepare for Clearinghouse activation if necessary.
Landslide	Clearinghouse Management, led by the Landslide committee, will hold a coordination call to discuss possible activation following any landslide event where people or infrastructure are threatened, injury or casualties are reported or suspected, or infrastructure has been destroyed.
Volcano	Volcanic events that cause damage or could potentially cause damage in Washington include eruptions, lahars, and ash fall. If the USGS issues a volcano alert level of 'Watch' or 'Warning' for a Washington (or neighboring) volcano, Clearinghouse management will consult with the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) to determine whether the Clearinghouse should be activated or on put on standby. CVO will serve as the lead for volcanic data collection and the Clearinghouse will assist them as requested.
Multi-hazard event	It is possible that there will be a multi-hazard event that requires activation of a Clearinghouse with multiple hazard Clearinghouse committees being called upon to respond to the different events (such as an earthquake and tsunami, or landslides caused by earthquakes). In such instances, Clearinghouse Management will focus on setting up Clearinghouse operations to best respond to the multiple events, with additional consideration of how to efficiently allocate Clearinghouse staff, facilitate coordination between the co-lead hazard committees and partners, locate the Clearinghouse, and generally manage a larger data collection effort.

Who is involved

The Clearinghouse is a coordinated effort between earth scientists, engineers, and other professionals representing various state agencies, federal bureaus, universities, and private institutions. Clearinghouse partners include the Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as other groups. The Clearinghouse is divided into committees that are responsible for leading the Clearinghouse after specific disasters occur (earthquake committee, landslide committee, tsunami committee, and volcano committee) and other committees that provide support (outreach committee, remote sensing committee, logistics committee, and data & information technology committee).

Any scientist wishing to join the Clearinghouse and collect data is welcome to participate. Reach out via the contact information below.

Contact the Clearinghouse

Email: clearinghouse@dnr.wa.gov Phone: 360-902-1450 (WGS General Information Line)

Clearinghouse Resources