Analysis of landslide susceptibility in the Suusamyr region, Tien Shan: statistical and geotechnical approach

The Suusamyr region is located in the northern part of the Tien Shan Range in Central Asia. In 1992, this region was hit by the Ms = 7.3 Suusamyr earthquake triggering several large landslides along the Suusamyr Valley and on the southern slopes of the adjacent Suusamyr Range. One of these landslides had been investigated by geophysical and geotechnical methods in order to determine local trigger factors. The present paper focuses on the influence of geological and morphological factors upon landslide occurrence on a regional scale. The analysis is based on a digital data set including landslides triggered in 1992 and several older landslides as well as various types of digital elevation models (DEMs), ASTER image data, and geological and active fault maps. These data were combined to compute landslide susceptibility (LS) maps using statistical methods, Landslide Factor and Conditional Analyses (LFA, CA), as well as a geotechnical one, the Newmark's Method (NM). The landslide data set was also analyzed with respect to the size–frequency relationship. An erratum to this article can be found at