Abstract The 1999 Chi–Chi earthquake triggered the catastrophic Tsaoling landslide in central Taiwan. We mapped the landslide area and estimated the landslide volume, using a high-resolution digital elevation model from airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), aerial photographs and topographic maps. The comparison between scar and deposit volumes, about 0.126 km3 and 0.150 km3 respectively, suggests a coseismic volume increase of 19% due to decompaction during landsliding. In July 2003, the scar and deposit volumes were about 0.125 km3 and 0.110 km3 respectively. These estimates suggest that 4 years after the event, the volume of landslide debris removed by river erosion was nearly 0.040 km3. These determinations are confirmed by direct comparison between the most accurate topographic models of the post-landslide period, indicating a very high erosion rate at the local scale (0.01 km3/year) for the deposit area of the landslide. Such a large value highlights the importance of landslide processes for erosion and long-term denudation in the Taiwan mountain belt.