Risk assessment and mitigation for the Hongshiyan landslide dam triggered by the 2014 Ludian earthquake in Yunnan,China

An Ms 6.5 earthquake shocked the Ludian County, Yunnan Province, China, on 3 August 2014 and triggered the Hongshiyan landslide dam. The dam, with a height of 83 m and a lake capacity of 260?×?10⁶ m³, threatened more than 10,000 people. A unique feature of this landslide dam was that it formed between a man-made dam and a hydropower plant. An existing drainage tunnel connecting the lake and the hydropower plant became a natural drainage conduit for the landslide dam, which played an important role in the mitigation of the landslide dam risks. This paper reports a quantitative risk assessment for the Hongshiyan landslide dam considering both engineering and non-engineering risk mitigation measures. The risk assessment is divided into three stages according to the implementation of two engineering measures: construction of a diversion channel and excavation of a branch drainage tunnel. The dam breaching hydrographs, flood zones, population at risk, and likely fatalities in each of the three stages are analysed. The optimum evacuation strategy in each stage is also studied based on the principle of minimum total consequence. It is found that the diversion channel decreases the dam breaching peak discharge and the associated risks significantly. The branch drainage tunnel prevent the landslide dam from overtopping failure in non-flooded period; however, the landslide dam may fail by overtopping in a future flood if the inflow rate is larger than the outflow rate through the drainage tunnels, resulting in serious losses of lives and properties. The dam breaching risks in all the three stages could be largely reduced by the optimal evacuation decision, which shows that timely evacuation is vital to save life and properties. The study provides a scientific basis for decision making in landslide dam risk management.     

Dynamics of the Niumiangou Creek rock avalanche triggered by 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake, Sichuan, China

The Niumiangou Creek rock avalanche was triggered by an M_s 8.0 earthquake that happened on 12 May 2008 in the Sichuan Province, China. The rock avalanche traveled a horizontal distance of 3.0 km over a vertical elevation difference of 0.89 km, equivalent to a coefficient of friction of only 0.29. The travel path of the rock avalanche can be divided into three segments: (1) failing and disintegrating, (2) flying, (3) flowing. In the failing and disintegrating segment, the rock slope failed because of the coupled action of horizontal and vertical force of the earthquake, then smashed into the opposite mountain and disintegrated. In the flying segment, the disintegrating rock mass changed direction and flew into the Lianhuaxin Creek, which was different from the previous research results that concluded rock debris flowed in Lianhuaxin Creek. A great amount of air trapped and compressed under the rock debris acted as air cushion and supported the rock debris to fly a further distance. In the flowing segment, the rock debris flowed on the ground surface in Niumiangou Creek. The flowing velocity has been estimated from the maximum elevation and runup according to the damaged trimlines of the debris. The saturated fine material in Niumiangou Creek entrained by the failed debris mass is thought to have contributed to the long runout of the debris. The Niumiangou Creek rock avalanche is one of the three longest rock avalanches triggered by Wenchuan earthquake. The conclusions of the paper have implications for hazard assessment of potential rock avalanches in the earthquake area and the other similar mountainous area in west China.     

Formation mechanism and evolution process of the Chada rock avalanche in Southeast Tibet,China

The Chada rock avalanche is a prehistoric high-elevation giant rock landslide located in the Boshula Mountains, Lhorong County, Southeast Tibet. It is composed of conglomerates with a volume of 6.62?×?10⁶ m³ and has a height difference of 1450 m and a transport distance of 3155 m. The accumulational landform shows characteristics indicating rock avalanches. With a unique red conglomerate as the marker of landslide movement, we combined the results of geological surveys, aerial surveys, and engineering geological drilling to determine the entrainment and geomorphic features of the rock avalanche. The rock avalanche was divided into the main scarp, entrainment zone (residual deposit, mixed deposit, and impact fragmentation areas), transport zone (compressed, local landslide, and longitudinal ridge areas), and deposit zone. The sequence of deposits in the valley indicates that the rock avalanche formed before the first-stage terrace and after the second-stage terrace. Combined with 3D numerical simulation, four movement stages were obtained: (1) the rock mass was broken and disintegrated due to progressive failure, initiating high-speed sliding; (2) the sliding mass scraped the thick previous slope material and formed oblique ridges by forward extrusion and lateral friction; (3) the 4.95?×?10⁶ m³ sliding mass was compressed and decelerated to form bending ridges, and the 1.67?×?10⁶ m³ sliding mass continued to move through the channel; and (4) the sliding mass extended to form longitudinal ridges in the channel and hummocks in the valley. The rock avalanche accelerated three times and decelerated three times during its motion.

     

Characteristics and numerical runout modelling of a catastrophic rock avalanche triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake in the Wenjia valley,Mianzhu, Sichuan,China

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake triggered more than 100 rock avalanches with volumes greater than 10 million cubic metres. The rock avalanche with the longest runout amongst these destructive landslides occurred in the Wenjia valley, Mianzhu, Sichuan, China. The landslide involved the failure of about 27.5 million cubic metres of sandstone from the source area. The displaced material travelled about 4,170 m with an elevation descent of about 1,360 m, equivalent to a fahrböschung of 16.9° and covered an area of 1.5 million square metres, with the final deposited volume of approximately 49 million cubic metres. The catastrophic event destroyed the village of Yanjing, killed 48 people and buried some houses at the mouth of the Wenjia valley. On the basis of a detailed field investigation, we introduce basic characteristics of the rock avalanche and find that the rock avalanche resulted in two run-ups and a superelevation along the runout path, and downslope enlargement due to the entrainment of path materials. A numerical model (DAN3D) is used to simulate the post-failure behaviour of the rock avalanche. By means of trial and error, a combination of the frictional model and Voellmy model is found to provide the best performance in simulating this rock avalanche. The simulation results reveal that the rock avalanche had a duration of about 240 s and an average velocity of 17.4 m/s.     

Source characteristics of long runout rock avalanches triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake,China

The May 12, 2008 Wenchuan, China Earthquake which measured M_w = 8.3 according to Chinese Earthquake Administration – CEA (M_w = 7.9 according to the USGS) directly triggered many landslides, which caused about 20,000 deaths, a quarter of the total. Rock avalanches were among the most destructive landslides triggered by this seismic event, and have killed more people than any other type of landslide in this earthquake. The Donghekou rock avalanche, one example of a catastrophic avalanche triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, occurred in Qingchuan and buried one primary school and 184 houses, resulting in more than 780 deaths, and in addition, caused the formation of two landslide dams, which formed barrier lakes.Combining aerial images (resolution of 0.5 m) with field investigations, this paper lists some parameters of 66 cases in one table, and details source characteristics of six typical cases. It has been found that most of the long runout rock avalanches have source areas with high relief and steep inclination, causing the debris in the travel courses to accelerate. There was also a large amount of saturated Holocene-age loose deposits formed by a river or gully that existed in the travel courses. Comparison studies indicate that saturated Holocene loose deposits in the travel courses could be the most important factor for the causes of the long runout characteristic of the rock avalanches especially when they traveled over gentle or even flat ground surfaces.Furthermore, the relationships among the relief slope gradient, runout and covered area are investigated, and a threshold line for predicting the maximum horizontal runout distance under certain change in elevation is presented.     

Dynamic process analysis for the formation of Yangjiagou landslide-dammed lake triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, China

The damming of rivers by landslides resulting in the formation of a lake was one of the typical secondary geological hazards triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake which occurred on May 12, 2008. Some landslide-dammed lakes were at a high risk of causing further damage since the rainstorm season was expected soon after the earthquake. Understanding the dynamic processes in the formation of landslide-dammed lakes is helpful in planning the mitigation measures. The Yangjiagou landslide-dammed lake was selected as a case study to investigate the typical processes of dam formation. The dynamic simulation of the formation of the Yangjiagou landslide-dammed lake was divided into two steps: the landslide step and the overflow/overtopping step. Two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) was adopted to investigate the mechanics of the Yangjiagou landslide. The landslide process was found to be controlled by the bond strength and residual friction coefficient of the DEM models. Computational results show that the formation of the landslide dam took approximately 35 s. The maximum velocity of a typical particle was approximately 26.8 m/s. The shallow-water equation and finite difference method were used to analyze the hydrodynamic mechanisms of the overflow process of the landslide-dammed lake. Computational results show that overflow would have occurred 15.1 h after the river was blocked, and overtopping failure occurs for the landslide dam in the rainstorm season when the water flow is large enough, causing a major disaster.     

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.     

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.     

The August 27, 2014, rock avalanche and related impulse water waves in Fuquan,Guizhou, China

At about 8:30 p.m. on 27 August 2014, a catastrophic rock avalanche suddenly occurred in Fuquan, Yunnan, southwestern China. This landslide and related impulse water waves destroyed two villages and killed 23 persons. The impulse waves occurred after initiation of the landslide, caused by the main part of the slide mass rapidly plunging into a water-filled quarry below the source area. The wave, comprising muddy water and rock debris, impacted the opposite slope of the quarry on the western side of the runout path and washed away three homes in Xinwan village. Part of the displaced material traveled a horizontal distance of about 40 m from its source and destroyed the village of Xiaoba. To provide information for potential landslide hazard zonation in this area, a combined landslide–wave simulation was undertaken. A dynamic landslide analysis (DAN-W) model is used to simulate the landslide propagation before entering the quarry, while Fluent (Ansys Inc., USA) is used to simulate the impulse wave generation and propagation. Output data from the DAN-W simulation are used as input parameters for wave modeling, and there is good agreement between the observed and simulated results of the landslide propagation. Notably, the locations affected by recordable waves according to the simulation correspond to those recorded by field investigation.     

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.     

The Hattian Bala rock avalanche and associated landslides triggered by the Kashmir Earthquake of 8 October 2005

The Kashmir Earthquake of the 8 October killed an estimated 87 350 people, 25 500 through co-seismic landslides. The largest landslide associated with the earthquake was the 68 × 10⁶ m³ Hattian Bala rock avalanche that destroyed a village and killed around 1000 people. The deposit blocks the valley to a depth of 130 m impounding a lake that reached the dam-crest in April 2007. An outburst flood now threatens a major settlement 3 km downstream. A series of space images reveals landslide clusters in the rock avalanche source area prior to the earthquake. The images also reveal a large slow-moving landslide with its toe in the lake, failure of this landslide may induce dam failure through overtopping and scour. Eighty five landslides in the Hattian Bala catchment predate the shaking of 8 October 2005, a further 73 are co-seismic with the main shock, and 21 postdate it in the period up to October 2006. Landslide magnitude–frequency distribution plots derived from satellite images allow an assessment of the contribution of seismically triggered events as compared to background rates of activity.     

Spatial distribution of landslides triggered by the 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake,China

The Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008 is one of the most disastrous earthquakes in China. The earthquake triggered tens of thousands of landslides over a broad area, including shallow, disrupted landslides, rock falls, deep-seated landslides, and rock avalanches, some of which buried large sections of some towns and dammed the rivers. The purpose of this study is to investigate correlations between the occurrence of landslides with geologic and geomorphologic conditions, and seismic parameters. Over 56,000 earthquake-triggered landslides, with a total area of 811 km², are interpreted using aerial photographs and remote sensing images taken following the earthquake. The spatial distribution of these landslides is analyzed statistically using both landslide-point density (LPD), defined as the number of landslides per square kilometer, and landslide-area density (LAD), the percentage of the area affected by landslides, to determine how the occurrence of landslides correlates with distance from the epicenter, distance from the major surface rupture, seismic intensity and peak ground acceleration (PGA), slope angle, slope aspect, elevation, and lithology. It is found that both LAD and LPD have strong positive correlations with slope steepness, distance from the major surface rupture and seismic intensity, and that Pre-Sinian schist, and Cambrian sandstone and siltstone intercalated with slate have the most concentrated landslide activities, followed by the Permian limestone intercalated with shale, and Devonian limestone. Statistical analyses also indicate that the major surface rupture has influence on the spatial distribution of landslides, because LAD and LPD are relatively higher on the hanging wall than on the footwall. However, the correlation between the occurrence of landslides with distance from the epicenter of the earthquake is complicated, rather than a relatively simple negative correlation as found from other reported cases of earthquakes. This is possibly due to complicated rupture processes of the earthquake.     

Research on catastrophic rock avalanche at Guanling, Guizhou, China

On June 28, 2010, a catastrophic rock avalanche occurred after an extreme rainstorm at Guanling with N 25°59′10′′ in latitude and E 105°16′50′′ in longitude, Guizhou, China. This rock avalanche has a long run-out distance of 1.5 km, with 1.75 million cubic meters of debris instantly burying two villages and resulting in 99 deaths. It originated in the coal measure strata, with the upper part of limestone and dolomite, the middle part of the sandstone with gentle inclination, and the lower part of shale and mudstone, together locally with coals. This kind of unique structure, with hard resistant caprock overlying softer ductile rocks, coupled with the central outflow region at the contact zone, has catastrophic potential for rock avalanches and creates challenges for engineering geological/hydrogeological analysis. The topography showed that the hillside slopes were steeper at the upper portion but gentler in the lower portion, looked like the shape of a “boot.” The upper steep landform easily led to slope instability due to its high static shear stresses, and the wide middle and lower parts provided kinematic conditions for long run-out. Transformation of the larger potential energy into kinetic energy contributed to the formation of a rapid long run-out rock avalanche. The rainfall from June 27 to 28 was the apparent trigger of this catastrophic avalanche. The measured rainfall of more than 310 mm within 24 h exceeded the local historical records that were recorded over the last 60 years. The pore pressure on discontinuities of sandstone had an effect on the slope stability. The valley runoff supplied a saturated base for the long run-out debris, inducing an additional increase of the terminus distance and the increased velocity of the avalanche movement.     

The Mogangling giant landslide triggered by the 1786 Moxi M 7.75 earthquake,China

A good understanding of seismic giant landslides could provide favourable guidance for seismic stability evaluation of nearby slopes. Here, an excellent example of a catastrophic seismic landslide named the Mogangling giant landslide (MGL), located upstream along the Dadu River and triggered by the 1786 Moxi M 7.75 earthquake, is analysed for its deposit characteristics, failure mechanism and dammed lake. The MGL, with a volume of approximately 4500?×?10⁴ m³, 450 m long and 1000 m wide, blocked the Dadu River completely and caused over 100 000 deaths when the landslide dam broke. The MGL occurred on the upper part of a narrow granite ridge; a potentially unstable wedge-shaped rock mass was separated from the remaining massif by unloading fissures and an active fault (Detuo fault) that just crossed the slope foot. The Moxi earthquake coupled with strong site amplification triggered the MGL, which blocked the Dadu River; the elevation of the dam crest was approximately 130 m higher than the present river level. The dammed lake had a volume of approximately 9.504?×?10⁸ m³, an area of 19.91 km² and a length of approximately 31 km; the peak flow of the outburst flood was larger than 7100 m³/s. After hundreds of years of concave bank erosion, the deposit is divided into the right bank deposit (main deposit) and left bank deposit (residual deposit).

     

四川汶川Ms 8 级地震触发的典型滑坡的风险指标反演

2008年汶川大地震触发了数以万计的崩塌和滑坡,特别是沿发震断裂分布一系列大型的高速远程滑坡。为了探索地震诱发大型高速远程滑坡运动速度的反演方法,以汶川大地震典型高速远程滑坡为例,在野外调查和室内分析的基础上,结合前人的研究成果,对沿映秀－北川断裂展布的5个典型滑坡的速度进行了反演和计算。结果表明,5个滑坡的最大速度均大于50m/s,其中大光包滑坡速度最大,其下部滑体的最大速度约为300m/s,上部滑体凌空飞行的初速度高达165.6 m/s。同时,对上述滑坡的视摩擦系数进行了计算,4个滑坡的视摩擦系数介于0.16~0.4之间。这一研究的目的在于为类似地区地震滑坡的速度、最大位移量的预测和风险评估提供基础数据,对于类似地区的防灾减灾具有一定的参考价值。     

四川汶川Ms 8 级地震触发的典型滑坡的风险指标反演

2008年汶川大地震触发了数以万计的崩塌和滑坡,特别是沿发震断裂分布一系列大型的高速远程滑坡。为了探索地震诱发大型高速远程滑坡运动速度的反演方法,以汶川大地震典型高速远程滑坡为例,在野外调查和室内分析的基础上,结合前人的研究成果,对沿映秀－北川断裂展布的5个典型滑坡的速度进行了反演和计算。结果表明,5个滑坡的最大速度均大于50m/s,其中大光包滑坡速度最大,其下部滑体的最大速度约为300m/s,上部滑体凌空飞行的初速度高达165.6 m/s。同时,对上述滑坡的视摩擦系数进行了计算,4个滑坡的视摩擦系数介于0.16~0.4之间。这一研究的目的在于为类似地区地震滑坡的速度、最大位移量的预测和风险评估提供基础数据,对于类似地区的防灾减灾具有一定的参考价值。     

Preliminary investigation of some large landslides triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Sichuan Province, China

The M _s 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake or “Great Sichuan Earthquake” occurred at 14:28 p.m. local time on 12 May 2008 in Sichuan Province, China. Damage by earthquake-induced landslides was an important part of the total earthquake damage. This report presents preliminary observations on the Hongyan Resort slide located southwest of the main epicenter, shallow mountain surface failures in Xuankou village of Yingxiu Town, the Jiufengchun slide near Longmenshan Town, the Hongsong Hydro-power Station slide near Hongbai Town, the Xiaojiaqiao slide in Chaping Town, two landslides in Beichuan County-town which destroyed a large part of the town, and the Donghekou and Shibangou slides in Qingchuan County which formed the second biggest landslide lake formed in this earthquake. The influences of seismic, topographic, geologic, and hydro-geologic conditions are discussed.     

Analysis of an anti-dip landslide triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

The Guantan landslide, with a total displaced mass of about 468 × 10⁴ m³, was triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and succeeding rainfall in Jushui Town, Sichuan Province, China. The landslide occurred on an anti-dip hard rock slope with a weak rock founding stratum of 200 m in thickness. To investigate the failure mechanism of the Guantan landslide, dynamic behaviors of hard and soft rock slopes were investigated by means of large scale shaking table tests. The laboratory models attempted to simulate the field geological conditions of the Guantan landslide. Sinusoidal waves and actual seismic waves measured from the Wenchuan Earthquake were applied on the slope models under 37 loading configurations. The experimental results indicated that deformation mainly developed at a shallow depth in the upper part of the hard rock slope and in the upper (near the crest) and lower (near the toe) parts of the soft rock slope. An equation for predicting the depth of sliding plane was proposed based on the location of the maximum horizontal acceleration. Finally, it was concluded that the failure process of the Guantan landslide occurred in three stages: (1) toppling failure caused by compression of the underlying soft rock strata, (2) formation of crushed hard rock and sliding surface in soft rock as the result of seismic shocks, particularly in the horizontal direction, and (3) aftershock rainfall accelerates the process of mass movement along the sliding plane.