Spatial distribution of landslides induced by the 2004 Mid-Niigata prefecture earthquake,Japan

On October 23, 2004, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.8 occurred in the Chuetsu area of Niigata prefecture in Japan. This earthquake is known as the 2004 Mid-Niigata prefecture earthquake; the event was followed by severe aftershocks and caused many types of landslides such as surficial slides, shallow slides, and deep slides. A large number of landslides occurred in the upland village of Yamakoshi, destroying the entire village; in addition, a huge number of houses collapsed in Kawaguchi town. This study investigates the correlations between each type of landslide and the bedding plane orientation and dip, and other geomorphologic conditions. The landslide occurrence ratio (LOR) is used as an index to determine the correlation between the 2004 Mid-Niigata prefecture earthquake-induced landslides and the slope angle, slope aspect, rock type, and bedding plane orientation and dip. This work also proposes a methodology to determine the geometric alignment between the topography and the orientation of geological bedding planes. The method provides an efficient means of estimating the topography/bedding plane relationship over large areas.     

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。     

汶川地震强震区地震诱发滑坡与后期降雨诱发滑坡控制因子耦合分析

本文以汶川地震强震区北川县典型研究区为例,利用高分辨率航片、SPOT5卫星图像对北川县典型研究区进行了512地震之后和924降雨之后诱发的滑坡解译,解译结果显示:512地震诱发滑坡1999个,924强降雨诱发滑坡828个,924强降雨导致原有地震滑坡面积扩大的滑坡150个。研究表明:地震和强降雨都是诱发滑坡的动力成因,924强降雨诱发的滑坡面积是512地震诱发滑坡面积的1/4倍,强降雨诱发滑坡的数量增加了41.4%; 强降雨不仅诱发新的滑坡,而且促使原来地震滑坡复活,并扩大其面积,强降雨导致地震诱发的滑坡面积扩大了原面积的68.7%。同时,在遥感解译数据基础之上,开展地震诱发滑坡与降雨诱发滑坡规模对比和控制因子耦合分析及地震与降雨耦合灾害链模式研究,为进一步分析研究地震灾区滑坡的产生、发展趋势、危险性和风险评价等预测预报提供科学依据,也为汶川震区恢复重建中的减灾防灾提供决策参考。     

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.     

雅安芦山县地震崩塌滑坡信息提取与发育规律分析

2013年4月20日,四川芦山县发生7.0级地震。由于当地复杂的区域地形条件,强烈的地震引发了大量的滑坡、崩塌等次级地质灾害。以此次地震诱发滑坡的重灾区宝盛乡为研究区,采用遥感高清影像与DEM结合的方式进行目视解译,并结合光谱信息与坡度信息对目视解译结果进行半自动提取与再验证,建立地震斜坡灾害的光谱信息解译标志; 在此基础上,利用GIS空间分析功能,统计分析此次地震斜坡地质灾害在地形地貌、地层岩性、构造等方面的发育规律。结果表明,本次地震诱发滑坡规模以中小型为主,坡度范围主要集中在30～50,发育的地层主要为下第三系名山组和白垩系灌口组粉砂岩、泥岩、砾岩; 烈度范围主要集中在Ⅸ度区。     

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.     

秦岭北麓古滑坡分布特征与地震活动关系研究

地震滑坡是严重的次生地质灾害,也是改变地球表层地貌形态的重要力量,对地震诱发滑坡的规模、数量、类型等研究是地震危险性评价的重要手段,也是认识地震地质灾害的主要方法和途径。位于西安市以南的秦岭山脉北麓中段发育有一条长约50 km的古滑坡群,且基本与山前秦岭北缘断裂带平行展布,普遍认为该古滑坡群可能是由于秦岭北缘断裂的强震活动所诱发,但对于诱发地震的震级大小和影响范围尚没有细致研究。本文通过利用资源3号卫星立体影像制作的高分辨率数值高程模型(DEM)和高分辨率多光谱遥感影像对秦岭北麓古滑坡区域进行了详细的解译工作,并结合对部分古滑坡体进行了野外调查,制作了详细秦岭北麓古滑坡分布图。结果表明:解译出了43处古滑坡,主要集中分布在70 km×10 km的范围内,总滑坡面积是16.57 km2。通过利用地震震级与滑坡面积频度分布的关系分析了诱发秦岭北麓古滑坡群的地震规模,得到了诱发秦岭北麓古滑坡群的地震震级应在7.6~8.1之间。并结合区域地震构造环境以及与现代地震诱发滑坡事件的对比,认为秦岭北麓具有发生7.5级以上地震的潜在能力。该研究对认识现今秦岭北麓古滑坡的成因提供了定量化的数据支持,也对理解秦岭北缘断裂的地震危险性具有重要的现实意义。     

Topographic and geologic controls on landslides induced by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake and its aftershocks: an example from the Trishuli Valley,central Nepal

The devastating Gorkha earthquake (M _w 7.8) on April 25, 2015 and its aftershocks triggered numerous landslides across the Lesser and Higher Himalayas of central Nepal. This study aims to characterize these landslides, based on the local topography and geology, and to develop data for landslide hazard zoning. This study focused on a mountainous catchment of the Trishuli River, where a digital elevation model was used to examine hilllslope and river profiles, aerial photos were used to identify 155 coherent landslides, and satellite images were used to map 912 earthquake-induced landslides. The topography of this area is mainly characterized by incised V-shaped inner gorges and steep (> 35°) SW-facing scarp slopes. Although most of the coherent landslides were not reactivated by the earthquakes, the Gogane landslide was affected by the earthquake and partly failed. A majority of the earthquake-induced landslides (91%) were new landslides, while the others were enlarged old landslides. The earthquake-induced landslides occurred mainly on the steep slopes of V-shaped inner gorges and scarp slopes, in gneiss and quartzite strata of the Lesser Himalayas, and they were primarily associated with fractured rock masses. This analysis provides a framework for zoning areas vulnerable to earthquake-induced landslides.     

GIS技术在区域地震滑坡危险性预测中的应用以龙陵地震滑坡为例

地震滑坡是一种有着严重危害的次生地震灾害形式,形成机制复杂,涉及因素众多。运用G IS丰富的空间分析功能,对地震滑坡的影响因素进行研究,并进行潜在地震滑坡区的预测,是地震滑坡研究领域的一种新的发展趋势。本文在对1976年龙陵地震引发的地震滑坡分布特征研究的基础上,结合前人有关中国西南地区地震滑坡特征的研究成果,应用G IS对该区潜在地震滑坡危险区进行了预测。     

汶川地震灾区滑坡风险区划研究

地震滑坡是在地震瞬间诱发的滑坡灾害。本文讨论了汶川地震灾区滑坡风险区划与常规滑坡风险区划的区别,认为地震滑坡风险区划应该在危险度区划中增加与地震相关的指标因子,如滑坡震中距和滑坡断层距。从而反映地震动能量对地震滑坡发育的贡献作用。而易损度区划中是难以体现地震因素作用的,这里采用滑坡密度、人口密度、道路密度、建筑物密度、耕地密度这5个指标进行易损度评价。最后采用权重叠加法进行了汶川地震极震区10个县市(面积26175.77km2)的滑坡风险区划,其中高、较高风险区分别占全区面积的9.03%和14.61%。说明震后灾区依然存在一定的滑坡风险。汶川地震极震区中,北川、青川、都江堰、彭州4地应该成为滑坡风险防御的主要地区。对滑坡风险区划结果进行了实地抽样检验,证明区划结果基本符合汶川极震灾区的情况。由此可见,本文介绍的地震滑坡风险区划方法是可靠的。     

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.     

扰动强度递增斜坡动力学演变规律的振动台试验

“5.12”汶川大地震和“4.20”芦山地震均触发了大量的崩塌、滑坡。实震资料显示,不同地震烈度区地震触发崩塌滑坡规模的整体分布规律会发生变化。这一统计层面的认知亟待得到物理试验的验证。在自组织临界状态理论的概念框架下,开展了振动台砂堆模型试验。试验表明：输入地震波峰值加速度（PGA）为0.075g～0.125g时,落砂量与发生频率的关系可用幂律描述;PGA增加到0.15g～0.25g时,该关系服从对数正态分布;PGA增加到0.35g～0.45g时,该关系具有正态分布特征。元胞自动机模拟试验结果表明,随扰动强度增加,砂堆模型的动力学特性也经历了幂律-幂律弱化-正态分布的演变过程。按照物理学中的普适性原理,汶川、芦山地震Ⅸ度区崩塌滑坡规模与出现频率之间所呈现负幂律分布的现象,以及汶川地震Ⅺ度区所呈现的对数正态分布,可能是具有普适性意义的规律。这些认识可望为不同烈度区地震触发崩塌滑坡灾势预测提供科学依据。     

Susceptibility assessments of the Wenchuan earthquake-triggered landslides in Longnan using logistic regression

In this study a Wenchuan earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility assessment was carried out in the Longnan area in northwestern China using a GIS-based logistic regression model. This region has frequently been affected by landslides in the past, and was intensively affected by the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake which received considerable international attention. The data used for this study consist of the landslides triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake and a landslide pre-disposing factor database. Information regarding the landslide causative factors came from additional data sources, such as a digital elevation model (DEM) with a 30 × 30 m² resolution, orthophotos, geological and land-use maps, precipitation records, and information on peak ground acceleration data from the 2008 earthquake. The statistical analysis of the relationship between the Wenchuan earthquake-triggered landslides and pre-disposing factors showed the great influence of lithological and topographical conditions on slope failures. The quality of susceptibility mapping was validated by splitting the study area into training and validation sections. The prediction capability analysis demonstrated that the landslide susceptibility map could be used for land planning as well as emergency planning by local authorities.     

A seismic landslide susceptibility rating of geologic units based on analysis of characteristics of landslides triggered by the 17 January, 1994 Northridge, California earthquake

One of the most significant effects of the 17 January, 1994 Northridge, California earthquake (M=6.7) was the triggering of thousands of landslides over a broad area. Some of these landslides damaged and destroyed homes and other structures, blocked roads, disrupted pipelines, and caused other serious damage. Analysis of the distribution and characteristics of these landslides is important in understanding what areas may be susceptible to landsliding in future earthquakes. We analyzed the frequency, distribution, and geometries of triggered landslides in the Santa Susana 7.5′ quadrangle, an area of intense seismic landslide activity near the earthquake epicenter. Landslides occurred primarily in young (Late Miocene through Pleistocene) uncemented or very weakly cemented sediment that has been repeatedly folded, faulted, and uplifted in the past 1.5 million years. The most common types of landslide triggered by the earthquake were highly disrupted, shallow falls and slides of rock and debris. Far less numerous were deeper, more coherent slumps and block slides, primarily occurring in more cohesive or competent materials. The landslides in the Santa Susana quadrangle were divided into two samples: single landslides (1502) and landslide complexes (60), which involved multiple coalescing failures of surficial material. We described landslide morphologies by computing simple morphometric parameters (area, length, width, aspect ratio, slope angle). To quantify and rank the relative susceptibility of each geologic unit to seismic landsliding, we calculated two indices: (1) the susceptibility index, which is the ratio (given as a percentage) of the area covered by landslide sources within a geologic unit to the total outcrop area of that unit; and (2) the frequency index [given in landslides per square kilometer (ls/km²)], which is the total number of landslides within each geologic unit divided by the outcrop area of that unit. Susceptibility categories include very high (>2.5% landslide area or >30 ls/km²), high (1.0–2.5% landslide area or 10–30 ls/km²), moderate (0.5–1.0% landslide area or 3–10 ls/km²), and low (<0.5% landslide area and <3 ls/km²).     

Centrifuge modelling of landslides and landslide hazard mitigation: A review

Landslides are serious geohazards that occur under a variety of climatic conditions and can cause many casualties and significant economic losses. Centrifuge modelling, as a representative type of physical modelling, provides a realistic simulation of the stress level in a small-scale model and has been applied over the last 50 years to develop a better understanding of landslides. With recent developments in this technology, the application of centrifuge modelling in landslide science has significantly increased. Here, we present an overview of physical models that can capture landslide processes during centrifuge modelling. This review focuses on (i) the experimental principles and considerations, (ii) landslide models subjected to various triggering factors, including centrifugal acceleration, rainfall, earthquakes, water level changes, thawing permafrost, excavation, external loading and miscellaneous conditions, and (iii) different methods for mitigating landslides modelled in centrifuge, such as the application of nails, piles, geotextiles, vegetation, etc. The behaviors of all the centrifuge models are discussed, with emphasis on the deformation and failure mechanisms and experimental techniques. Based on this review, we provide a best-practice methodology for preparing a centrifuge landslide test and propose further efforts in terms of the seven aspects of model materials, testing design and equipment, measurement methods, scaling laws, full-scale test applications, landslide early warning, and 3D modelling to better understand the complex behaviour of landslides.     

A review of assessing landslide frequency for hazard zoning purposes

The probability of occurrence is one of the key components of the risk equation. To assess this probability in landslide risk analysis, two different approaches have been traditionally used. In the first one, the occurrence of landslides is obtained by computing the probability of failure of a slope (or the reactivation of existing landslides). In the second one, which is the objective of this paper, the probability is obtained by means of the statistical analysis of past landslide events, specifically by the assessment of the past landslide frequency. In its turn, the temporal frequency of landslides may be determined based on the occurrence of landslides or from the recurrence of the landslide triggering events over a regional extent. Hazard assessment using frequency of landslides, which may be taken either individually or collectively, requires complete records of landslide events, which is difficult in some areas. Its main advantage is that it may be easily implemented for zoning. Frequency assessed from the recurrence of landslide triggers, does not require landslide series but it is necessary to establish reliable relations between the trigger, its magnitude and the occurrence of the landslides. The frequency of the landslide triggers can be directly used for landslide zoning. However, because it does not provide information on the spatial distribution of the potential landslides, it has to be combined with landslide susceptibility (spatial probability analysis) to perform landslide hazard zoning. Both the scale of work and availability of data affect the results of the landslide frequency and restrict the spatial resolution of frequency zoning as well. Magnitude–frequency relationships are fundamental elements for the quantitative assessment of both hazard and risk.     

A new approach of combining aerial photography with satellite imagery for landslide detection

Subsequent rainfall after a strong earthquake can easily trigger landslides. Aerial photography is always available after a strong earthquake but not always available in a timely manner after a subsequent rainfall following the earthquake. Sometimes, only panchromatic imagery is available because of its relatively low cost and large cover capacity. To detect multi-temporal landslides induced by earthquake and its post long-term effect, in company of other factors such as subsequent rainfall, traditionally, it needs to carry out image classification multi-times to calculate the variance information. Therefore, the accuracy will be affected by accumulated errors from multi-classification, and the process is very time-consuming. In this paper, a new semi-automatic approach combing aerial photograph with satellite imagery was proposed for rapid mapping of multi-temporal landslides. The approach can enhance the change information of each landslide event in one detection process. In addition, slope units were introduced to separate the detected conjoint landslides. Chenjiaba area, which located in the highest seismic intensity zone of Wenchuan earthquake in Beichuan, China, and had a strong rainfall 4 months later, was selected as a case study to demonstrate the usefulness of this methodology. Accuracy assessment was carried out by comparing those extracted ones with a manually prepared landslide inventory map. Correctly detected were 90.1 and 94.2 % for earthquake-induced landslides and new landslides, respectively. Results show that this approach is capable of mapping different temporal landslides efficiently and quickly.     

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.     

Use of landslides for paleoseismic analysis

In many environments, landslides preserved in the geologic record can be analyzed to determine the likelihood of seismic triggering. If evidence indicates that a seismic origin is likely for a landslide or group of landslides, and if the landslides can be dated, then a paleo-earthquake can be inferred, and some of its characteristics can be estimated. Such paleoseismic landslide studies thus can help reconstruct the seismic history of a site or region. In regions that contain multiple seismic sources and in regions where surface faulting is absent, paleoseismic ground-failure studies are valuable tools in hazard and risk studies that are more concerned with shaking hazards than with interpretation of the movement histories of individual faults. Paleoseismic landslide analysis involves three steps: (1) identifying a feature as a landslide, (2) dating the landslide, and (3) showing that the landslide was triggered by earthquake shaking. This paper addresses each of these steps and discusses methods for interpreting the results of such studies by reviewing the current state of knowledge of paleoseismic landslide analysis.