Interpretation of earthquake-induced landslides triggered by the 12 May 2008, M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in the Beichuan area, Sichuan Province, China using satellite imagery and Google Earth

The 12 May 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in the People’s Republic of China represented a unique opportunity for the international community to use commonly available GIS (Geographic Information System) tools, like Google Earth (GE), to rapidly evaluate and assess landslide hazards triggered by the destructive earthquake and its aftershocks. In order to map earthquake-triggered landslides, we provide details on the applicability and limitations of publicly available 3-day-post- and pre-earthquake imagery provided by GE from the FORMOSAT-2 (formerly ROCSAT-2; Republic of China Satellite 2). We interpreted landslides on the 8-m-resolution FORMOSAT-2 image by GE; as a result, 257 large landslides were mapped with the highest concentration along the Beichuan fault. An estimated density of 0.3 landslides/km² represents a minimum bound on density given the resolution of available imagery; higher resolution data would have identified more landslides. This is a preliminary study, and further study is needed to understand the landslide characteristics in detail. Although it is best to obtain landslide locations and measurements from satellite imagery having high resolution, it was found that GE is an effective and rapid reconnaissance tool.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

汶川地震触发崩滑地质灾害空间分布及影响因素

通过遥感解译和实地考察,获取了2008年汶川地震触发崩滑的空间分布,利用GIS空间分析和Lo-gistic回归,分析崩滑的空间分布特征及其影响因素,建立了地震触发崩滑与其影响因素之间的回归方程。结果表明,(1)研究区共有5 154个崩滑群,覆盖总面积1 139 km2;(2)崩滑沿北川—映秀发震断层的两侧(断层上盘区占90%),呈北东向宽度不一的条带状分布;(3)Ⅺ和Ⅹ烈度区崩滑面积占区域面积的73.2%,Ⅷ度及以下烈度区崩滑面积比例较小;(4)崩滑发育及空间分布不仅受控于发震断层的活动,断层上下盘效应、地形放大效应等也是其重要影响因素。崩滑与其影响因子的回归方程表明:(1)到北川—映秀发震断层距离因子和到震中距离因子的偏回归系数远大于其他因子的偏回归系数,北川—映秀断层发震活动是控制崩滑空间分布的主导因子;(2)岩性软硬程度对崩滑空间分布的影响不显著;(3)地形坡度、高程、坡度变率、多年累积降雨、人工修路及植被覆盖对崩滑的发育产生影响。地形高程因子对崩滑空间分布的影响大于坡度、坡度变率因子的影响。人工道路、多年降雨及植被覆盖对地震崩滑的影响程度依次降低。     

Analysis on mechanism of landslides under ground shaking: a typical landslide in the Wenchuan earthquake

A high steep rock hill with two-side slopes near National Road 213 is used as a prototype in this paper. The full process from initial deformation to sliding of the slope during ground shaking is simulated by a new discrete element method—continuum-based discrete element method. Then, the seismic responses of a high steep rock hill with two-side slopes are researched from the base of time, frequency and joint time–frequency domain using Hilbert–Huang transform and Fourier Transform. The findings are: first, the stress concentration phenomenon occurs at the top of the sliding mass, and then some tension and shear failure points appear, which expand from the top toward the toe of the sliding mass along the structural plane. At the same time, the number of tension failure points gradually increases. Then the toe of the sliding mass fails, and shears out from its toe which results in the landslide. If the material parameters are under the same conditions, the landslide in the middle of the slope occurs before that at the foot of slope, and the starting time of landslide and the arrival time of the peak ground acceleration are synchronous or the former slightly lags behind the latter. The difference of distribution and dissipation of earthquake energy in the sliding body and sliding bed is the major influence factor to induce the landslide. When the accelerations are small, the instantaneous frequency of accelerations between sliding bed and sliding body is generally consistent, the energy transmittance coefficients of the sliding structural plane and the controlled frequency band of the energy all range in a limitation; with the increase of the seismic intensity, the instantaneous frequency and the energy transmittance coefficients gradually decrease, and then they are steady within the lower limitation. At the same time, the controlled frequency band also shifts gradually from high frequency band to the lower one. Based on the input seismic wave, the peak acceleration amplifies as the increase of elevation, regardless of the monitoring points on the steep slope, gentle slope side or inside of the slope. Generally speaking, amplification of the vertical peak acceleration is stronger than that of the horizontal peak acceleration, and amplification of the peak acceleration on a steep slope is stronger than that on a gentle slope, and that of inside of the slope is the weakest amplification.     

汶川地震区理县医院后山滑坡应急调查与监测

理县医院后山滑坡为＂5.12汶川地震＂诱发的次生地质灾害。地震导致医院后山斜坡开裂,形成三级主裂缝,降低了斜坡稳定性,形成次生滑坡灾害,后期降雨及余震则使滑坡继续变形发展。为及时掌握滑坡的变形趋势,做好防灾准备,同时为后续治理工程提供依据,开展了以裂缝位移监测为主的应急阶段自动化监测工作。监测系统由裂缝位移计、无线数传终端、太阳能供电组件以及室内计算机、监测管理软件组成。根据理县医院后山滑坡具备三级主裂缝的特点,在每级裂缝上沿走向设置监测点,共设置9个,各监测点每小时自动巡检一次。     

Application of an incomplete landslide inventory, logistic regression model and its validation for landslide susceptibility mapping related to the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan earthquake of China

The main purpose of this paper is to present the use of multi-resource remote sensing data, an incomplete landslide inventory, GIS technique and logistic regression model for landslide susceptibility mapping related to the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan earthquake of China. Landslide location polygons were delineated from visual interpretation of aerial photographs, satellite images in high resolutions, and verified by selecting field investigations. Eight factors, including slope angle, slope aspect, elevation, distance from drainages, distance from roads, distance from main faults, seismic intensity and lithology were selected as controlling factors for earthquake-triggered landslide susceptibility mapping. Qualitative susceptibility analyses were carried out using the map overlaying techniques in GIS platform. The validation result showed a success rate of 82.751 % between the susceptibility probability index map and the location of the initial landslide inventory. The predictive rate of 86.930 % was obtained by comparing the additional landslide polygons and the landslide susceptibility probability index map. Both the success rate and the predictive rate show sufficient agreement between the landslide susceptibility map and the existing landslide data, and good predictive power for spatial prediction of the earthquake-triggered landslides.     

Field testing of erodibility of two landslide dams triggered by the 12 May Wenchuan earthquake

A strong earthquake of magnitude 8 in Richter scale, occurred in Sichuan Province, China on 12 May 2008, triggered about 257 landslide dams. The erodibility of fresh landslide deposits plays an important role in evaluating the initiation and development of breaching of such landslide dams. In this research, field jet index tests were conducted shortly after the earthquake at 27 locations on the Hongshihe landslide dam and the Libaisi landslide dam. The purpose of these tests was to investigate the erodibility of freshly deposited landslide soils. The landslide deposits are broadly graded. The bulk density increases and the coefficient of erodibility decreases with the depth of deposition. The erodibility of the fresh landslide deposits falls into a moderately resistant category and the fresh deposits are much more erodible than the native geomaterials before the earthquake. The main factors that control soil erodibility are found to be grain-size distribution, void ratio, fines content, and plasticity index. Particularly, the coefficient of erodibility decreases exponentially with the degree of compaction. Two empirical equations are developed for estimating the coefficient of erodibility and critical erosive shear stress of the freshly deposited landslide soils based on their basic soil properties.     

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.     

Run-out analysis of flow-like landslides triggered by the Ms 8.0 2008 Wenchuan earthquake using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

Flow-like landslides have caused significant damage and casualties worldwide. However, studying such phenomena with traditional simulation methods is made difficult by their complex fluidization characteristics. In this paper, we use smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for the run-out analysis of flow-like landslides. Compared with conventional methods, the proposed SPH modeling technique is the combination of a Bingham flow model and Navier?CStokes equations in the framework of computational fluid dynamics. At first, two benchmark problems of dam break and granular flow are simulated and verified to evaluate the accuracy of the SPH model. Then, run-out analyses are performed for flow-like landslides triggered by the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake that occurred on 12 May 2008 in Sichuan Province, China. Run-out analyses of the Tangjiashan, Wangjiayan, and Donghekou landslides are conducted by the application of SPH models to real flow-like landslides. All simulations show good agreement with characteristics of flow-like landslides observed in the field. We have found that numerical modeling can capture the fundamental dynamic behavior of these flow-like landslides and produce preliminary results for hazard assessment and site selection for reconstruction in earthquake-prone areas.     

Sliding element simulating the response of slip surfaces and its application for the prediction of earthquake-induced landslide movement using one-dimensional dynamic analyses

Landslides - Earthquake-induced landslides involve excessive movement of slopes, usually along slip surfaces. This seismic movement of slopes may depend crucially on (a) the soil response along the...     

汶川地震触发平溪村滑坡特征及成因分析

平溪村滑坡是汶川地震触发的高速岩质滑坡,面积为3.7×104m2,体积约65×104m3。滑坡距离映秀—北川发震断裂带中的石坎断层不足500m,在强大地震力作用下,滑坡滑动面陡峭、粗糙,与重力作用下呈圆弧、平滑的滑面迥异。地震触发的滑坡可分为三个阶段:①震动拉裂阶段;②摩擦阻力降低、"锁固段"剪断阶段;③滑体溃滑,高速流动堆积阶段。然后结合结构面的力学分析,通过数值模拟对地震作用下的应力变化和震裂机制进行了初步分析。     

Characteristics and remediation of a landslide complex triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan, China earthquake-case from Yingxiu near the earthquake epicenter

During the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the river valley from Yingxiu to Wenchuan experienced numerous landslides and became a prominent area of landslide complexes. The present large landslide complex near the earthquake epicenter consisted of Laohuzui slide 1, Laohuzui slide 2 and Douyaping slide. The scale, geology, morphology, sliding process, and failure mechanism of the landslide complex are analyzed by means of field investigation, aerial photograph and stereographic projection technique. Characteristics of these three slides including seismic response of slope, landslide debris, damage and potential failure are discussed: the convex slope and the upslope of fractured granitic rock at high altitude are highly prone to landsliding under earthquake; the high source altitude and long travel path determine grain sizes and the deposit angle of the slide debris; the landslide complex completely buries the G213 roadway and dams up the Minjiang River in these sections; after the earthquake, rainfall, aftershocks and river erosion may retrigger new failures, such as retrogressive slide of weathered fractured rock, colluvial landslide, debris flow, embankment failure and rockfall. The following are presented as suggested remedial measures to protect the roadway and stabilize the slope: the removing and trenching, protective concrete/rock blocks against erosion, retaining structure, rockfall stopping wall, rockfall restraining net, rock bolt, and the planting of vegetation.     

An integrated model simulating the initiation and motion of earthquake and rain induced rapid landslides and its application to the 2006 Leyte landslide

A gigantic rapid landslide claiming over 1,000 fatalities was triggered by rainfalls and a small nearby earthquake in the Leyte Island, Philippines in 2006. The disaster presented the necessity of a new modeling technology for disaster risk preparedness which simulates initiation and motion. This paper presents a new computer simulation integrating the initiation process triggered by rainfalls and/or earthquakes and the development process to a rapid motion due to strength reduction and the entrainment of deposits in the runout path. This simulation model LS-RAPID was developed from the geotechnical model for the motion of landslides (Sassa 1988) and its improved simulation model (Sassa et al. 2004b) and new knowledge obtained from a new dynamic loading ring shear apparatus (Sassa et al. 2004a). The examination of performance of each process in a simple imaginary slope addressed that the simulation model well simulated the process of progressive failure, and development to a rapid landslide. The initiation process was compared to conventional limit equilibrium stability analyses by changing pore pressure ratio. The simulation model started to move in a smaller pore pressure ratio than the limit equilibrium stability analyses because of progressive failure. However, when a larger shear deformation is set as the threshold for the start of strength reduction, the onset of landslide motion by the simulation agrees with the cases where the factor of safety estimated by the limit equilibrium stability analyses equals to a unity. The field investigation and the undrained dynamic loading ring shear tests on the 2006 Leyte landslide suggested that this landslide was triggered by the combined effect of pore water pressure due to rains and a very small earthquake. The application of this simulation model could well reproduce the initiation and the rapid long runout motion of the Leyte landslide.     

Simulation of the sliding process of Donghekou landslide triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake using a distinct element method

In the village of Donghekou (in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province, China), a major landslide was triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 with more than 10 × 10⁶ m³ of rock displaced. The kinematic behavior of this landslide is simulated using a 2D discrete element model. The numerical model used in this work is composed of discs bonded together. The initial boundary conditions are applied along the ball–wall contacts by using an initial velocity estimated from the strong motion data. The constraints are mainly issued from the final geometry of the landslide including its capacity to dam the river. The modeling thus indicates that a low friction coefficient (about 0.1) is required to account for the actual landslide characteristics. The runout behaviors are analyzed and some useful conclusions are drawn.     

汶川地震崩滑灾害影响因素分析

为研究汶川地震崩滑灾害主要影响因素,在掌握汶川地震灾区公路沿线地震崩滑灾害资料基础上,选取典型段进行灾害统计分析,研究表明动力条件下斜坡失稳主要受斜坡岩体结构特征、地震动峰值加速度和斜坡动力响应特征三方面因素影响。地震动峰值加速度越高,地震崩滑灾害越发育。斜坡动力响应特征主要取决于地形地貌和地层岩性,陡坡硬岩段为地震崩滑灾害高发区。斜坡岩体结构是控制斜坡变形破坏的主要因素,从研究斜坡动力失稳角度,提出了斜坡岩体结构类型的划分,分为土层及强风化层——基岩二元结构、块状结构、层状及似层状结构、碎裂结构、土层等5个大类12个亚类。     

基于确定性系数方法的龙门山地区地震滑坡影响因子敏感性分析——以汶川地震与芦山地震诱发滑坡为例

在我国西南地区,沿龙门山断裂带分别发生了2008年汶川M_S8.0级地震以及2013年芦山M_S7.0级地震,这两次地震均造成了严重的地表破裂,并诱发了大量的滑坡和崩塌等次生地质灾害。文章选择了位于青藏高原向四川盆地过渡的区域——以龙门山断裂带为中心的30°~34°N,102°~106°E区域作为研究区,借助GIS工具,基于确定性系数（CF）方法,选取了地震、地质构造、自然环境和人类活动4大类因子,包括烈度、震中距、岩性、断裂、高程、坡度、坡向、河流、降雨、公路共10个因子（子集）,对汶川和芦山地震诱发的次生滑坡灾害进行影响因子敏感性分析,基于z值确定该区域内地震滑坡的关键因子类以及基于CF值确定各类集（子集）下各特定因子的具体地震滑坡敏感性。研究结果显示：地震因子具有最高的z值,是龙门山地区地震滑坡产生的关键影响因子,表明地震活动的强弱直接关系到斜坡的稳定性和次生滑坡灾害的面积分布。而对比烈度子集中的具体CF值表明：当烈度小于Ⅷ度时,烈度对次生滑坡发生的影响极低,区域内的主要影响因子则由地震因子转变为震中距、自然因子等其他类别的因子;其次以坡度、高程、与河流的距离为主的自然因子类别以及与断层的距离在地震滑坡过程中也有较高权重,而人类活动对研究区内坡体的稳定性也有着不可忽略的作用。本研究结果可作为该地区后续区域地震滑坡相关研究和发展规划的基础科学依据。