The Oso mudslide happened very suddenly on a Saturday morning. Forty-three people were killed and there was no warning. Contrast that event with the sloooow-motion landslide happening in Yakima County and there are vastly different issues. Fortunately the current slide was detected, and it has given people time to evacuate from the area and provided local and state government time to do contingency planning.
The problem with the current event is that the authorities don't know when there might be a total failure of the land mass and a rapid slide occurs. This causes another whole set of issues for government and public safety. It does sound like it is not an "if" but a "when" type of event.
Lastly, when your disaster/emergency is on the front page of The New York Times, you know it is noteworthy!
Jennifer Grosman shared the NY Times link above.
