A channelised long run-out debris slide triggered by the Noto Hanto Earthquake in 2007, Japan

A strong earthquake (M _J 6.9, M _W 6.6–6.7) at about 11 km depth hit the western shore of the Noto Peninsula on Honshu, Japan, at about 00:42 coordinated universal time (9:42 a.m. local time) on 25 March 2007 (the Noto Hanto Earthquake in 2007). The earthquake triggered only 61 landslides, with most traveling short distances. It caused one long run-out landslide in the Nakanoya district of Monzen town, Wajima city, Ishikawa Prefecture, when a portion of a deep-seated landslide transformed into a moderate debris slide down a channel. The rock slide occurred on a south-facing convex-shaped slope on a small spur where earthquake ground shaking likely was strongly amplified by topography. A portion of the rock slide reached a small channel floored by materials containing abundant groundwater. Constant-volume box-shear tests on normally consolidated saturated specimens revealed that the apparent angle of internal friction of the channel-floor material was 33–36° at 10-mm shear displacement and did not show much decrease in effective normal stress during shearing. In situ rock-sliding testing on the exposed channel materials showed a low kinetic-friction angle of about 21°. We suggest that an unsaturated portion of the rock slide slid down the channel, with sliding between the rock-slide mass and the channel floor. Because the slope angle of the travel path nearly equaled the kinetic-friction angle, the unsaturated rock slide mass may have traveled at a moderately slow speed, or it might have decelerated and accelerated. Slow speed is supported by accounts from local residents that suggest movement of debris continued for 3 days after the main shock.     

汶川地震滑坡与地震参数及地质地貌因素之间的相关关系

在对汶川地震诱发的典型滑坡进行野外调查和相关资料收集、分析和整理的基础上,对汶川地震滑坡与地震参数及坡度、岩土体特性等地质地貌因素之间的相关关系进行了统计分析。结果表明: (1)汶川地震滑坡主要发生在Ⅶ～Ⅺ烈度区, Ⅵ度及以下烈度区中发生的滑坡较少; (2)汶川地震滑坡主要发生在距震中300km的范围内,且距震中200km的范围内滑坡分布最为集中; (3)汶川地震滑坡的易发斜坡坡度为30～50,其中30～40是汶川地震滑坡发育最为敏感的坡度; (4)汶川地震滑坡主要发生在600～1500m的高程范围内,在600～1000m高程范围内的中低山和丘陵区滑坡分布最为集中; (5)砂泥岩、板岩、片岩、千枚岩等软岩类和土质类岩性是汶川地震滑坡的易发岩性,其次是软硬岩组合类,在统计的47个典型滑坡中,花岗岩、碳酸盐岩等硬岩类中发生的滑坡最少,而且由汶川地震直接导致复活的老滑坡也比较少。     

Landslide hazards triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Sichuan, China

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (M _s = 8.0; epicenter located at 31.0° N, 103.4° E), with a focal depth of 19.0 km was triggered by the reactivation of the Longmenshan fault in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, China on 12 May 2008. This earthquake directly caused more than 15,000 geohazards in the form of landslides, rockfalls, and debris flows which resulted in about 20,000 deaths. It also caused more than 10,000 potential geohazard sites, especially for rockfalls, reflecting the susceptibility of high and steep slopes in mountainous areas affected by the earthquake. Landslide occurrence on mountain ridges and peaks indicated that seismic shaking was amplified by mountainous topography. Thirty-three of the high-risk landslide lakes with landslide dam heights greater than 10 m were classified into four levels: extremely high risk, high risk, medium risk, and low risk. The levels were created by comprehensively analyzing the capacity of landslide lakes, the height of landslide dams, and the composition and structure of materials that blocked rivers. In the epicenter area which was 300 km long and 10 km wide along the main seismic fault, there were lots of landslides triggered by the earthquake, and these landslides have a common characteristic of a discontinuous but flat sliding surface. The failure surfaces can be classified into the following three types based on their overall shape: concave, convex, and terraced. Field evidences illustrated that the vertical component of ground shaking had a significant effect on both building collapse and landslide generation. The ground motion records show that the vertical acceleration is greater than the horizontal, and the acceleration must be larger than 1.0 g in some parts along the main seismic fault. Two landslides are discussed as high speed and long runout cases. One is the Chengxi landslide in Beichuan County, and the other is the Donghekou landslide in Qingchuan County. In each case, the runout process and its impact on people and property were analyzed. The Chengxi landslide killed 1,600 people and destroyed numerous houses. The Donghekou landslide is a complex landslide–debris flow with a long runout. The debris flow scoured the bank of the Qingjiang River for a length of 2,400 m and subsequently formed a landslide dam. This landslide buried seven villages and killed more than 400 people.     

四川九寨沟Ms7.0级地震滑坡应急快速评估

基于地震滑坡危险性评估的Newmark累积位移模型,利用震前获取的震区地形数据、区域地质资料,结合地震动近实时获取技术,开展了四川九寨沟M_s7.0级地震诱发滑坡的应急快速评估。地震滑坡位移分析结果表明,同震滑坡活动的中—高强度区分布在断层两侧宽约4 km的带状区域内,整体沿北西方向延伸。其中,极震区的丰雪塘、日则和干海子等城镇驻地及附近道路的滑坡强度相对较高;震前、震后影像对比表明九寨沟地震诱发的滑坡类型以浅表型碎屑流及小规模崩塌为主,且同震碎屑流多是在震前已有碎屑流的基础上进一步活动扩展而来,震后汛期泥石流隐患也不容忽视;通过典型地区滑坡位移分析结果与震前、震后影像对比,表明滑坡位移分析结果能够较好的反映同震滑坡的宏观分布特征,但在场地尺度上吻合程度欠佳,后续将通过提升岩性和地形等数据质量进行改进。研究结果可为灾情研判提供宝贵信息,对提高灾害应急救援效率具有重要意义。     

Analysis of the mechanisms of slope failures triggered by the 2007 Chuetsu Oki earthquake

The 2007 Chuetsu Oki earthquake (M_JMA = 6.6) triggered more than one hundred slope failures in the northwest part of Niigata prefecture, Japan. A reconnaissance survey conducted by the authors revealed that although most of the failures were only a few meters deep, they still caused significant damage to roads, railways, and houses. It was also found that a vast number of shallow slides were concentrated along the coastal line of the Japan Sea, while only few, but relatively larger failures occurred in a mountainous part of the study area, which is located in a considerable distance from the earthquake’s epicenter. This paper summarizes the reconnaissance observations, describes the geologic characteristics of the area covered by landslides, provides characterization of major types of the landslides, and examines the causes and mechanisms of typical failures. In addition, this paper seeks to investigate the mechanism of the Ohzumi landslide, the largest slide triggered by the Chuetsu Oki earthquake. For this purpose, a comprehensive analysis that included field investigation and laboratory testing of soils samples was performed. Results of field investigation suggested that the failure plane of the Ohzumi landslide formed in a saturated layer of sandy soil near a boundary with bedrock. Data from undrained cyclic loading triaxial compression tests indicated that the sandy material was highly susceptible to generation of high excess pore-water pressures during earthquake loading. On the basis of the obtained results and the outcome of seismic response and slope stability analyses, the authors posited an explanation on the mechanism of the Ohzumi landslide.     

2022年MS6.8级泸定地震诱发地质灾害特征与空间分布规律研究

2022年9月5日四川甘孜泸定县发生6.8级地震,诱发了大量地质灾害,造成房屋损毁和多处道路阻断,并导致了严重的人员伤亡。快速预测地震诱发地质灾害空间分布对震后应急救援至关重要。为此,成都理工大学地质灾害防治与地质环境保护国家重点实验室利用已建立的地震诱发滑坡近实时预测模型,在震后2 h内,快速预测了地震诱发滑坡空间分布概率。同时,利用震后重点区域的无人机影像和国产高分六号影像,对地震诱发滑坡进行了智能识别和人工解译及现场调查复核,共解译滑坡3633处,总面积13.78 km2。研究发现本次泸定地震诱发滑坡,较2008年汶川和2017年九寨沟地震滑坡,规模相对较小。本次地震诱发滑坡主要分布于鲜水河断裂带和大渡河两侧,呈带状分布,在磨西镇、得妥镇及王岗坪彝族藏族乡等Ⅸ度烈度区相对集中。对控制滑坡空间分布的地形地貌、地质和地震3类因素9个因子进行分析,发现其主要分布在坡度35°~55°、高程1000~1800 m范围内;受断层控制强烈,主要分布在距断层1 km范围内;在花岗岩中最为发育。上述研究成果获得的地震诱发滑坡及受损道路和房屋分布情况,为震后应急救援提供了重要支撑。     

Interpretation of landslide distribution triggered by the 2005 Northern Pakistan earthquake using SPOT 5 imagery

The 2005 northern Pakistan earthquake (magnitude 7.6) of 8 October 2005 occurred in the northwestern part of the Himalayas. We interpreted landslides triggered by the earthquake using black-and-white 2.5-m-resolution System Pour l’Observation de la Terre 5 (SPOT 5) stereo images. As a result, the counts of 2,424 landslides were identified in the study area of 55 by 51 km. About 79% or 1,925 of the landslides were small (less than 0.5 ha in area), whereas 207 of the landslides (about 9%) were large (1 ha and more in area). Judging from our field survey, most of the small landslides are shallow rock falls and slides. However, the resolution and whitish image in the photos prevented interpreting the movement type and geomorphologic features of the landslide sites in detail. It is known that this earthquake took place along preexisting active reverse faults. The landslide distribution was mapped and superimposed on the crustal deformation detected by the environmental satellite/synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, active faults map, geological map, and shuttle radar topography mission data. The landslide distribution showed the following characteristics: (1) Most of the landslides occurred on the hanging-wall side of the Balakot–Garhi fault; (2) greater than one third of the landslides occurred within 1 km from the active fault; (3) the greatest number of landslides (1,147 counts), landslide density (3.2 counts/km²), and landslide area ratio (2.3 ha/km²) was found within Miocene sandstone and siltstone, Precambrian schist and quartzite, and Eocene and Paleocene limestone and shale, respectively; (4) there was a slight trend that large landslides occurred on vertically convex slopes rather than on concave slopes; furthermore, large landslides occurred on steeper (30° and more) slopes than on gentler slopes; (5) many large landslides occurred on slopes facing S and SW directions, which is consistent with SAR-detected horizontal dominant direction of crustal deformation on the hanging wall.     

2017年8月8日四川九寨沟7.0级地震发震构造浅析

2017年8月8日21时19分,四川阿坝州九寨沟县发生7.0级地震,震中位于巴颜喀拉块体东边界虎牙断裂和东昆仑断裂带东段塔藏断裂交汇区域,地震构造背景较为复杂。地震导致了房屋和道路破坏、滑坡崩塌。根据高分辨率卫星影像解译、阶地坎变形的测量和测年数据得到：塔藏断裂东段晚第四纪以来以左旋走滑为主,兼逆分量,水平滑动速率为2.7~4.1 mm/yr,垂直滑动速率为0.56~0.6 mm/yr。结合此次地震的主余震分布、主震震源机制解等综合结果,初步建立了三维发震构造模型,分析认为此次地震属于走滑型地震,主破裂倾角57°~77°,发震断层可能是塔藏断裂的一条分支,是青藏高原块体向东推挤的一次地震事件。基于历史地震、活动断裂和形变观测方面的研究,巴颜喀拉块体具备显著的强震构造背景,对于该块体边界带周缘的强震活动和变形需要继续关注。     

The characteristics and failure mechanism of the largest landslide triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, May 12, 2008, China

Strong earthquakes are among the prime triggering factors of landslides. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (M _w = 7.9) triggered tens of thousands of landslides. Among them, the Daguangbao landslide is the largest one, which covered an area of 7.8 km² with a maximum width of 2.2 km and an estimated volume of 7.5 × 10⁸ m³. The landslide is located on the hanging wall of the seismogenic fault, the Yingxiu–Beichuan fault in Anxian town, Sichuan Province. The sliding mass travelled about 4.5 km and blocked the Huangdongzi valley, forming a landslide dam nearly 600 m high. Compared to other coseismic landslides in the study area, the Daguangbao landslide attained phenomenal kinetic energy, intense cracking, and deformation, exposing a 1-km long head scarp in the rear of the landslide. Based on the field investigation, we conclude that the occurrence of the landslide is controlled mainly by the seismic, terrain, and geological factors. The special location of the landslide and the possible topographic amplification of ground motions due to the terrain features governed the landslide failure. The effects of earthquakes on the stability of slopes were considered in two aspects: First, the ground shaking may reduce the frictional strength of the substrate by shattering of rock mass. Second, the seismic acceleration may result in short-lived and episodic changes of the normal (tensile) and shear stresses in the hillshopes during earthquakes. According to the failure mechanism, the dynamic process of the landslide might contain four stages: (a) the cracking of rock mass in the rear of the slope mainly due to the tensile stress generated by the ground shaking; (b) the shattering of the substrate due to the ground shaking, which reduced the frictional strength of the substrate; (c) the shearing failure of the toe of the landslide due to the large shear stress caused by the landslide gravity; and (d) the deposition stage.     

The Yenice–Gönen active fault (NW Turkey): Active tectonics and palaeoseismology

The Yenice–Gönen Fault (YGF) is one of the most important active tectonic structures in the Biga peninsula. On March 18, 1953, a destructive earthquake (M_w = 7.2) occurred on the YGF, which is considered to be a part of the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). A 70 km-long dextral surface rupture formed during the Yenice–Gönen Earthquake (YGE).In this study, structural and palaeoseismological features of the YGF have been investigated. The YGF surface ruptures have been mapped and three trenches were excavated at Muratlar, Karaköy and Seyvan sites.According to the palaeoseismic interpretation and the results of ¹⁴C AMS dating, Seyvan trench shows that an earthquake of palaeoseismic age ca. 620 AD ruptured a different strand of the 1953 fault, producing rather significant surface rupture displacement, while there are indications that at least two older events occurred during the past millennia. Another set of trenches excavated near Gönen town (Muratlar village) revealed extensive liquefaction not only during the 1953 event, but also during a previous earthquake, dated at 1440 AD. The Karaköy trench shows no indications of recent reactivations.Based on the trenching results, we estimate a recurrence interval of 660 ± 160 years for large morphogenic earthquakes, creating linear surface ruptures. The maximum reported displacement during the 1953 earthquake was 4.2 m. Taking into account the palaeoseismologically determined earthquake recurrence interval and maximum displacement, slip-rate of the YGF has been calculated to be 6.3 mm/a, which is consistent with present-day velocities determined by GPS measurements. According to the geological investigations, cumulative displacement of the YGF is 2.3 km. This palaeoseismological study contributes to model the behaviour of large seismogenic faults in the Biga Peninsula.     

Coseismic landslides triggered by the 8th August 2017 <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>s</Subscript> 7.0 Jiuzhaigou earthquake (Sichuan,China): factors controlling their spatial distribution and implications for the seismogenic blind fault identification

On 8th August 2017, a magnitude M_s 7.0 earthquake struck the County of Jiuzhaigou, in Sichuan Province, China. It was the third M_s ≥?7.0 earthquake in the Longmenshan area in the last decade, after the 2008 M_s 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake and the 2013 M_s 7.0 Lushan earthquake. The event did not produce any evident surface rupture but triggered significant mass wasting. Based on a large set of pre- and post-earthquake high-resolution satellite images (SPOT-5, Gaofen-1 and Gaofen-2) as well as on 0.2-m-resolution UAV photographs, a polygon-based interpretation of the coseismic landslides was carried out. In total, 1883 landslides were identified, covering an area of 8.11 km², with an estimated total volume in the order of 25–30?×?10⁶ m³. The total landslide area was lower than that produced by other earthquakes of similar magnitude with strike-slip motion, possibly because of the limited surface rupture. The spatial distribution of the landslides was correlated statistically to a number of seismic, terrain and geological factors, to evaluate the landslide susceptibility at regional scale and to identify the most typical characteristics of the coseismic failures. The landslides, mainly small-scale rockfalls and rock/debris slides, occurred mostly along two NE-SW-oriented valleys near the epicentre. Comparatively, high landslide density was found at locations where the landform evolves from upper, broad valleys to lower, deep-cut gorges. The spatial distribution of the coseismic landslides did not seem correlated to the location of any known active faults. On the contrary, it revealed that a previously-unknown blind fault segment—which is possibly the north-western extension of the Huya fault—is the plausible seismogenic fault. This finding is consistent with what hypothesised on the basis of field observations and ground displacements.     

Controlling parameter analyses and hazard mapping for earthquake-triggered landslides: an example from a square region in Beichuan County, Sichuan Province, China

On May 12, 2008, at 1428 hours (Beijing time), a catastrophic earthquake, with a magnitude of Ms 8.0, struck the Sichuan Province, China. About 200,000 landslides, as a secondary geological hazard associated with the earthquake, were triggered over a broad area. These landslides were of almost all types such as shallow, disrupted landslides, rock falls, deep-seated landslides, and rock avalanches. Some of these landslides damaged and destroyed large part of some towns, blocked roads, dammed rivers, and caused other serious damages. The purpose of this study is to detect correlations between landslide occurrence and the surface rupture plane, ground shaking conditions (measured by peak ground acceleration, PGA), lithology, slope gradient, slope aspect, topographic position, and distance from drainages by using two indices, landslide area percentage (LAP) and the landslide number density (LND), based on geographic information system (GIS) technology and statistical analysis method in a square region (study area) of Beichuan County, Sichuan Province, China. There were 5,096 landslides related with the earthquake which were delineated by visual interpretation and selected field checking throughout the study area. The total area (horizontal projection) of the 5,096 landslides is about 41.103 km². The LAP, which is defined as the percentage of the plane area affected by landslides, was 10.276 %, and the LND, means the number of landslides per square kilometers, was 12.74 landslides/km². Statistical analysis results show that both LAP and LND have a positive correlation with slope gradient and a negative correlation with distance from the surface rupture. However, the correlation between the occurrence of landslides with PGA, topographic position, and distance from drainages are uncertain, or has just a little positive correlation. The correlation between landslide and slope aspect also shows the effect of the directivity of the seismic wave. The Zbq formation had the most concentrated landslide activity with the LND value of 21.78 landslides/km _, ² and the ∈₁ q Gr. geological units had the highest LAP value. Furthermore, weight index (W _i) model is performed with a GIS platform to derive landslide hazard index map. The success rate of the model was 71.615 % and, thus, it was valid. In addition, comparison of five landslide controlling parameters’ influence on landslide occurrences was also carried out.     

国内外地震滑坡研究：现状、问题与展望

地震滑坡一直是地学界关注的研究热点之一,特别是2005年10月8日克什米尔M_s 7.8地震、2008年5月12日汶川M_s 8.0地震、2010年玉树M_s 7.1地震、2014年云南鲁甸M_s 6.5地震、2015年4月25日尼泊尔M_s 8.1地震以及2017年8月8日九寨沟M_s 7.0地震等一系列强震活动,都不同程度地触发了大量地震滑坡,并伴生了许多次生灾害,从而促进地震滑坡研究进入了新的阶段。本文通过总结国内外地震滑坡研究现状,归纳了地震滑坡的特征和分布规律、地震动参数与地震滑坡关系、边坡地质条件与地震滑坡关系、地震滑坡的动力响应特征、地震滑坡预测以及地震滑坡危险性与风险区划等6方面的研究现状,在此基础上进一步提出了未来地震滑坡应关注的主要研究方向和重点。     

Insights on the small tsunami from January 28, 2020, Caribbean Sea MW7.7 earthquake by numerical simulation and spectral analysis

A major left-lateral strike-slip Mw7.7 earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the Caribbean Sea on January 28, 2020. As a result, a small-scale tsunami was generated. The properties of the seismogenic source were described using observational data gathered for the earthquake and tsunami, as well as information on the regional tectonic setting. The tsunami was simulated with the COMCOT model and Okada’s dislocation model from finite fault solutions for M_W7.7 Caribbean Sea earthquakes published by the United States Geological Survey. The simulation results were compared to tide gauge records to validate whether the seafloor’s vertical displacement generated by the strike-slip fault caused a small-scale tsunami. We conducted a spectral analysis of the tsunami to better understand the characteristics of tsunami records. The tsunami simulation results showed that the co-seismic vertical displacement caused by a strike-slip M_W7.7 earthquake could have contributed to the small-scale tsunami, but the anomalously large high-frequency tsunami waves recorded by the George Town tide gauge 11 min after the earthquake were unrelated to the earthquake-generated tsunami. According to the spectrum analysis, the predominant period of noticeable high-frequency tsunami waves recorded by the George Town tide gauge occurred only two minutes after the earthquake. This indicates that the source of the small-scale tsunami was close to the George Town station and the possible tsunami source was 150 km away from George Town station. These facts suggest that a submarine landslide was caused by the strike-slip earthquake. The comprehensive analysis showed that the small-scale tsunami was not caused solely by co-seismic seafloor deformation from the strike-slip event but that an earthquake-triggered submarine landslide was the primary cause. Therefore, the combined impact of two sources led to the small-scale tsunami.

     

Vertical acceleration effect on landsides triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake,China

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake with Ms8.0 triggered extensive throwing-pattern landslides in the area within or near the seismic faults. The resultant landslides from this earthquake brought to the fore the effect of vertical earthquake acceleration on landslide occurrence. The pseudostatic analysis and the dynamic response on landslide stability due to the Wenchuan earthquake are studied with the Chengxi (West Town) catastrophic landslide used as a case study. The results show that the epicenter distance is an important factor which affects the vertical acceleration and thus the stability of landslide. Also, the vertical acceleration was found to have a significant impact on the FOS of landslide if the earthquake magnitude is quite large. Within the seismic fault, the amplitude effect of vertical acceleration is very dominant with the FOS of landslide, for vertical acceleration ranging from positive to negative, having a variation of 25 %. The variation of FOS of landslide for vertical acceleration ranging from positive to negative are 15 and 5 % for landslides near seismic fault and outside seismic fault, respectively. For landslide with a slope angle <45°, the FOS of landslide with both horizontal and vertical accelerations is significantly greater than the one without vertical acceleration. Further, the results computed from both the pseudostatic method and dynamic analysis reveal that the FOS during the earthquake varied significantly whether vertical acceleration is considered or not. The results from this study explain why lots of throwing-pattern catastrophic landslides occurred within 10 km of the seismic fault in the Wenchuan earthquake.     

A 36Cl age determination for Mystery Creek rock avalanche and its implications in the context of hazard assessment, British Columbia, Canada

The Sea to Sky Corridor has experienced hundreds of historic and prehistoric landslides. The most common types of historical landslides are rock falls and debris flows, which are relatively small in volume but can be damaging. These types of failures are more common in the southern part of the corridor, between Horseshoe Bay and Porteau, where infrastructure has been built in close proximity to steep slopes. Farther north, fewer landslides have been reported historically, but those that have been recorded are usually large and date to prehistoric time (e.g., Cheekye fan and Mystery Creek rock avalanche). As part of a Geological Survey of Canada surficial geology and landslide inventory mapping study, Mystery Creek rock avalanche, near Whistler, British Columbia, was sampled for ³⁶Cl dating. Samples were collected from three large flat boulders of quartz diorite in the rock avalanche deposit to test a correlation with the previously reported radiocarbon age of 800 ± 100 years BP on charcoal. One sample revealed a mean age of 2,400 years and the other two, 4,300 and 4,800 years, respectively. These new results point to four possible interpretations: (1) Mystery Creek landslide is about 800 years old; (2) Based on the overlapping 2σ uncertainties, the rock avalanche took place between 2,200 and 3,600 years ago; (3) The rock avalanche deposit is 2,400 years old and the other two blocks are too old; and (4) The rock avalanche is between 4,300 and 4,800 years old. Although there is strength in numbers and it is likely that the age varies between 4,300 and 4,800 years, we favor the second interpretation where the age range is broader and statistically significant for all three samples. Moreover, at this time, we favor discounting the radiocarbon age based on a greater number of samples analyzed for ³⁶Cl analysis and lack of detailed information on the charcoal sampling. The causes and triggers of the Mystery Creek rock avalanche remain unknown, but direct glacial debuttressing can be ruled out. Some of the causes are likely a combination of the regional tectonic setting which produced preferential planes of weakness reflected in the trend of major faults, headscarp, and reverse scarps. Yearly cycles of freezing and thawing are considered a plausible cause based on present-day climate records. Finally, a large earthquake still remains a possible trigger because of the active tectonic setting and the presence of potentially contemporaneous landslides in the same area. Mystery Creek rock avalanche and other historic and pre-historic landslides contributed to validation of a heuristic rock fall/rock slide/rock avalanche susceptibility mapping study, in which their headscarps correlated well with medium-high to high susceptibility zones. In terms of hazard assessment, Mystery Creek rock avalanche, although pre-historic in age, occurred in present-day climatic and geological conditions. This poses a threat to infrastructure such as the Sea to Sky Highway, railway, and power line.     

Geological and geomorphological characteristics of landslides triggered by the 2004 Mid Niigta prefecture earthquake in Japan

The 2004 Mid Niigta prefecture earthquake (M_JMA 6.8) triggered more than one thousand landslides in the Miocene to Quaternary sedimentary rocks in Japan. The most common landslides were shallow disrupted landslides on steep slopes, which has been common in many previous disastrous earthquakes in the world. The Mid Niigta prefecture earthquake also triggered more than one hundred deep landslides, providing valuable information on the conditions for their occurrence. A field investigation and the interpretation of aerial photographs taken before and after the earthquake suggest that reactivation of existing landslides and undercutting of slopes are the most important factors for deep landslides to be triggered by earthquakes. In addition, planar sliding surfaces seem to be essential for the generation of catastrophic landslides triggered by this earthquake. Planar bedding–parallel sliding surfaces were formed at the boundary between the overlying permeable sandstone and underlying siltstone or along the bedding planes of alternating beds of sandstone and siltstone. Sliding surfaces along the slope-parallel oxidation front were formed in the area of black mudstone. New landslides (rockslide-avalanches) occurred with the sliding surfaces in a several-cm thick tuff interbedded in siltstone. One rockslide-avalanche occurred on a slope where buckling deformation preceded the earthquake. Gentle valley bottom sediments were mobilized in many locations, probably because they were saturated and partial liquefaction had occurred due to the earthquake shaking.     

The elliptic stress thermal field prior to <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>S</Subscript> 7.3 Yutian,and <Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis><Subscript>S</Subscript> 8.0 Wenchuan earthquakes in China in 2008

Some thermal infrared anomalies on the earth’s surface are omens of stronger earthquakes, and have a close relationship with the stress fields. Satellite-based remote sensing is an important means of monitoring and researching this phenomenon. The M _S 7.3 Yutian earthquake in Xinjiang on March 20, 2008 and the M _S 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan on May 12, 2008 both happened in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China, with epicenters more than 2,000 km apart. The two events, however, were a production of an identical stress field in different developing phases. Prior to the M _S 7.3 Yutian earthquake, a large-scale abnormal temperature rise not only covered the epicenter of the forthcoming Yutian earthquake, but also arrived at the epicenter of the farther Wenchuan earthquake. The revolving elliptic stress thermal field reflecting earthquake gestation moved from the west to the east of the Wenchuan epicenter at the time of the Yutian event occurrence. The rotation of the calefactive ellipses and belts prior to the two strong events agreed with the stress field, the focal mechanism, and modality and mechanism property of the ruptures in the crustal surface induced by the events. It should be a reflection of the partial mantle uprush and rotation.     

Landslides triggered by the 1949 Khait earthquake, Tajikistan, and associated loss of life

Earthquake-triggered landslides are a major geological hazard in Central Asia. In July 1949, the M7.4 Khait earthquake triggered many hundreds of landslides in a mountainous region near the southern limit of the Tien Shan Mountains, central Tajikistan. These landslides involved widespread rock-slope failure as well as large numbers of flowslides in loess that mantles the steep slopes of the region. In the Yasman valley hundreds of loess landslides coalesced to form a massive loess flow (est. vol. 245 Mm³) that travelled up to 20 km on a slope of only 2°. In an adjacent valley, the Khait landslide involved transformation of an earthquake-triggered rockslide into a very rapid flow by the entrainment of saturated loess into its movement. It travelled 7.41 km over a vertical distance of 1421 m with an estimated average velocity of ~30 m/s. We estimate its volume as 75 Mm³, an order of magnitude less that previously published estimates. The Khait landslide was simulated using DAN. The number of casualties due to earthquake-triggered landslides in the epicentral region was considerable. Approximately 4000 people were killed in the Yasman valley loess flow as 20 villages (kishlaks) were overwhelmed. In the Khait landslide alone we estimate ca. 800 people lost their lives when the villages of Khait and Khisorak were overrun by rapidly moving debris. Our data indicates that a total of approximately 7200 people were killed by earthquake-triggered landslides in the epicentral region of the Khait earthquake and that, in terms of loss of life, the 1949 Yasman valley loess flow was one of the most destructive landslides in recent history.     

Unified scaling theory for distributions of temporal and spatial characteristics in seismology

The paper describes the unified scaling theory for distribution functions of temporal and spatial characteristics in seismology. It is based on the scaling of seismological characteristics calculated for various energy–spatial–temporal intervals. The common mathematical methods for the scaling of distribution functions are developed. The means to test possibility of such scaling are found as well. The relationship between the unified scaling theory and other present scaling approaches is determined. The theory is applied to two characteristics of different seismoactive regions. The first characteristic is the waiting time between earthquakes ΔT, the second one is a new space parameter ΔD_min, which is the minimum distance of a current seismic event to the nearest (in space) neighbor in an energy–spatial–temporal interval. The distribution of the characteristics ΔT and ΔD_min allows estimating the time interval to the next earthquake and the distance of the following earthquake from previous earthquakes. Thus, these characteristics are very important for seismic hazard estimations. Scaling of distributions functions is proven to be successful for ΔD_min in all energy–spatial–temporal intervals and for ΔT with variations of energy/magnitude range. The distribution function of ΔT for various time domains was stable in only 60% of the cases, and near to unstable for spatial variations.