Investigating Landslides Caused by Earthquakes – A Historical Review

Post-earthquake field investigations of landslide occurrence have provided a basis for understanding, evaluating, and mapping the hazard and risk associated withearthquake-induced landslides. This paper traces thehistorical development of knowledge derived from these investigations. Before 1783, historical accounts of the occurrence of landslides in earthquakes are typically so incomplete and vague that conclusions based on these accounts are of limited usefulness. For example, the number of landslides triggered by a given event is almost always greatly underestimated. The first formal, scientific post-earthquake investigation that included systematic documentation of the landslides was undertaken in the Calabria region of Italy after the 1783 earthquake swarm. From then until the mid-twentieth century, the best information on earthquake-induced landslides came from a succession ofpost-earthquake investigations largely carried out by formal commissions that undertook extensive ground-based field studies. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, when the use of aerial photography became widespread, comprehensive inventories of landslide occurrence have been made for several earthquakes in the United States, Peru, Guatemala, Italy, El Salvador, Japan, and Taiwan. Techniques have also been developed for performing ``retrospective' analyses years or decades after an earthquake that attempt to reconstruct the distribution of landslides triggered by the event. The additional use of Geographic Information System (GIS) processing and digital mapping since about 1989 has greatly facilitated the level of analysis that can applied to mapped distributions of landslides. Beginning in 1984, syntheses of worldwide and national data on earthquake-induced landslides have defined their general characteristics and relations between their occurrence and various geologic and seismic parameters. However, the number of comprehensive post-earthquake studies of landslides is still relatively small, and one of the most pressing needs in this area of research is for the complete documentation of landslides triggered by many more earthquakes in a wider variety of environments.     

Nonlinear earthquake response analysis and energy calculation for seismic slit shear wall structures

Based on the concept of structural passive control, a new type of slit shear wall, with improved seismic performance when compared to an ordinary solid shear wall, was proposed by the authors in 1996. The idea has been verified by a series of pseudo-static and dynamic tests. In this paper a macro numerical model is developed for the wall element and the energy dissipation device. Then, nonlinear time history analysis is carried out for a 10-story slit shear wall model tested on a shaking table. Furthermore, the seismic input energy and the individual energy dissipated by the components are calculated by a method based on Newmark-β assumptions for this shear wall model, and the advantages of this shear wall are further demonstrated by the calculation results from the viewpoint of energy. Finally, according to the seismic damage criterion on the basis of plastic accumulative energy and maximum response, the optimal analysis is carried out to select design parameters for the energy dissipation device.     

The Advances and Prospects of Research on Earthquake Engineering at IEM

This paper describes briefly the recent advances and acievements of the research projects conducted by the Institute of Engineering Mechanics(IEM) in the period of the Ninth Five-Year Plan(1995-2000) with the support of the China Seismological Bureau(CSB),These projects are related with key problems in the field of earthquake engineering.They are:development of the methods for determining earthquake resistant design load level,study on mechanisms of earthquake damage to buildings.development of new technology of base isolation,and study on earthquake damage prediction and seismic losss assessment methods.Through these studies,quite a number of problems have een solved and some of them have een applied in earthquake engineering design and practice.     

基于高温高压岩石破裂实验结果对中强地震前震中附近区域部分地震学现象的初步解释

依据高温高压岩石破裂实验结果并结合理论分析，对 附近区域不同深度温压条件下岩石变形破坏性质及破坏失稳的力学行为进行了研究，在一次应力加载循环中，发生破坏的部位随时间具有向深部下迁的趋势。考虑到深度温压条件下岩石的渐进式破坏行为及突发失稳，对主震前震中附近区域小地震活动的增强、平静、活化等现象，以及b值等时间序列参数变化的可能机理进行初步探讨，并简单讨论了两类平静和两类b值变化的可能原因。     

Estimates of lichen growth–rate in northern Sweden

Two lichenometric techniques were compared in a study of lichen growth–rate in northern Sweden. The first technique, based on the maximum lichen diameter on glacier moraines, was identical to the technique used in the 1970s, whereas the other utilized the lichen diameter measured on 100 randomly selected boulders. The results indicate that it does not matter which technique is chosen, as long as the technique is used consistently on both the calibration surfaces and the surfaces to be dated. The use of data from both the 1970s and the 2000s increased the number of calibration surfaces available. The new calibration curve indicates that the age of Little Ice Age moraines was underestimated by up to about 30 years in the study conducted in the 1970s.     

广州白云堡豪苑观光塔滑坡的形成与防治研究

以往常有两种误区：(1)认为单斜岩层边坡只要坡脚处岩层不被切断，就不会破坏；(2)植树绿化和排水设施的设置总是对边坡的稳定性有利的。文章通过野外调查和力学模型分析了坡脚处岩层未被切断的白云堡豪苑观光塔处单斜岩层滑坡的形成机制，认为该滑坡属于顺层边坡溃屈型的板裂破坏——溃屈破坏，分析了滑坡的稳定性及剩余滑动力。分析表明，人工开挖后边坡的防治方法和措施不当对该滑坡的产生起了非常关键性的作用，其中盲目的植树绿化和排水沟设置成了边坡不稳定的主要诱导因素。由此可见，边坡(滑坡)防治措施的选择对其稳定性具有非常重要的意义。最后，提出切中要害的滑坡防治方案。     

Mechanisms of riverbank failure along the Arno River,central Italy

Riverbanks along the Arno River have been investigated with the aims of de?ning the main mechanisms of failure and retreat, their spatial distribution, and their causes. Geomorphological aspects were investigated by a reconnaissance of riverbank processes, for a number (26) of representative sites. Laboratory and in situ tests were then performed on a selected number of riverbanks (15). Based on the material characteristics, six main typologies of riverbanks have been de?ned, with homogeneous ?ne‐grained and composite banks representing the most frequent types. Slab‐type failures are the most frequent mechanism observed on ?ne‐grained banks, while cantilever failures prevail on composite banks. The role of river stage and related pore water pressure distributions in triggering the main observed mechanisms of failure has been investigated using two different types of stability analysis. The ?rst was conducted for 15 riverbanks, using the limit equilibrium method and considering simpli?ed hypotheses for pore water pressure distribution (annulment of negative pore pressures in the portion of the bank between low water stage and peak stage). Stability conditions and predicted mechanisms of failure are shown to be in reasonably good agreement with ?eld observations. Three riverbanks, representative of the main alluvial reaches of the river, were then selected for a more detailed bank stability analysis, consisting of: (a) de?nition of characteristic hydrographs of the reach with different return periods; (b) modelling of saturated and unsaturated ?ow using ?nite element seepage analysis; and (c) stability analysis with the limit equilibrium method, by adopting pore water pressure values derived from the seepage analysis. The results are compared to those obtained from the previous simpli?ed analysis, and are used to investigate the different responses, in terms of stability, to different hydrological and riverbank conditions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

小浪底工程岩体力学参数研究

本文系统研究了小浪底工程的岩体的强度特征,采用了室内试验,野外结构面统计,工程地质类比法、模型试验法和Hoek Brown的经验法,估算了工程岩体的力学指标,指出了上述各种方法中所存在的不足,认为在工程实践中,应尽可能使用多种估计方法,交叉校核所得参数,以提高参数的可靠性,保证工程的安全,节约投资。     

三峡库区云阳新城水平层状岩体高边坡变形破坏主要控制因素

本文对三峡库区云阳新城一些高边坡的勘察成果进行了总结,目的在于了解云阳新城区近水平岩层条件下边坡变形破坏的型式、主要控制因素及支护要点。结果表明,云阳新城高边坡普遍存在表层剥落现象,含膨胀性矿物(主要是伊利石和绿泥石)的泥质岩较快速风化作用是造成边坡表层剥落式渐进性破坏的主要原因;沿卸荷裂隙与泥化夹层的崩滑是边坡失稳的主要型式,但边坡之间崩滑失稳的程度存在较大差异,一些边坡存在相对较为强烈的卸荷及边坡失稳问题,主要归因于其存在与边坡近于平行的构造裂隙。认为及时进行护坡并在工程设计中考虑结构面的存在型式是边坡防护的重点。     

Spatial probabilistic modeling of slope failure using an integrated GIS Monte Carlo simulation approach

Spatial probabilistic modeling of slope failure using a combined Geographic Information System (GIS), infinite-slope stability model and Monte Carlo simulation approach is proposed and applied in the landslide-prone area of Sasebo city, southern Japan. A digital elevation model (DEM) for the study area has been created at a scale of 1/2500. Calculated results of slope angle and slope aspect derived from the DEM are discussed. Through the spatial interpolation of the identified stream network, the thickness distribution of the colluvium above Tertiary strata is determined with precision. Finally, by integrating an infinite-slope stability model and Monte Carlo simulation with GIS, and applying spatial processing, a slope failure probability distribution map is obtained for the case of both low and high water levels.