## 1 Introduction  
A landslide is the movement of a mass of rock, debris or soil down a slope under the influence of gravity [1; 2]. They are considered serious natural geological hazards in many areas of the world [3; 4; 5]. Specifically, landslides are the second most notable geological disasters identified by the United Nations Development Program [6]. In general, landslides are controlled by several pre-conditioning factors (e.g., morphology, lithology, structural environment, vegetation and land use) and are induced by different triggers (e.g., heavy rain, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and marine storms) [7; 8; 9; 10; 11]. Furthermore, as development expands into unstable hillside areas under the pressures of increasing population and urbanisation, human activity, such as deforestation or excavation of slopes for roads and construction sites, becomes an essential trigger of landslides [12; 13; 14; 15].  
As the most common natural geological hazard in mountainous areas, landslides often cause significant economic loss and human casualties [16; 17]. For this reason, the evaluation of these phenomena has been a primary scientific duty in order to establish the zoning of the analysed territory and to identify the main objects exposed to risk [18; 19]. These undertakings have received increasing amounts of attention from the scientific community in recent decades [20; 21; 22]. Various qualitative, quantitative and empirical approaches have been proposed in the scientific literature to assess hazards and risks arising from landslides, rockfalls or slope instability [23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28].  
One of the most often used methods is susceptibility mapping. The first landslide maps were prepared in the 1970s [29; 30], and their elaboration still implies a certain degree of interpretation and correlations with various factors (e.g., topography, geomorphology, geotechnical properties and vegetation) [31; 32; 33]. Susceptibility maps provide valuable information for disaster mitigation work and land planning strategies [34]. This approach yields a more precise sustainability assessment that includes identifying high-vulnerability areas, risk analysis, security arrangements and stabilisation [35; 36].  
The area studied in this contribution is \"Las Cabras\" hill, Duran, in Southwest Ecuador. The hill has a small population with the necessary infrastructure (e.g., houses, roads and electrical network). Nowadays, there are 1540 houses, of which 88.38% (1361 houses) are inhabited. The access roads are in poor condition, making it difficult for waste collection vehicles and water tank trucks to enter. In recent years, signs of instability (e.g., deterioration, fracturing and minor wall instabilities) have been reported on the slopes of \"Las Cabras\" [37; 38]. This potential instability of the terrain could cause severe mass movements over time, affecting the population.  
Our work aimed to evaluate the slope stability of \"Las Cabras\" hill (Duran, Ecuador) through geological and geotechnical analysis and a susceptibility assessment that allowed the definition of areas potentially susceptible to landslide and detachment for land planning recommendations. A zoning map with the most unstable areas is intended to provide a basis for present and future territory planning.