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The relationship between three-dimensional coseismic displacement and distribution of coseismic landslides

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Abstract

In mountainous areas, landslides induced by destructive earthquakes are one of the main causes of human casualties, which is an important link in the chain of earthquake hazards. Earthquake-triggered landslides are mainly controlled by three factors, namely seismic property, topography, and geology. Many studies have been conducted on these controlling factors of earthquake-triggered landslides. However, little is known about the effect of coseismic displacement on the distribution of landslides under different slope aspects and slope angles, hindering our understanding of the mechanism of inducing landslides by the combination of surface displacement and slope geometry at the local scale and leading to controversial opinions about the abnormal number of earthquake-triggered landslides in several cases. Here, we took the 2008 Wenchuan Mw7.9 earthquake in China, the 2015 Gorkha Mw7.8 earthquake in Nepal, and the 2016 Kaikōura Mw7.8 earthquake in New Zealand as examples to investigate the relationship between the distribution of large earthquake-triggered landslides and the three-dimensional (3D) coseismic displacement field. We divided the landslide-prone area around the epicenter into regular grids and calculated the 3D coseismic displacement in each grid according to the radar satellite images and slip distribution model. Then, the 3D coseismic displacement was projected to two coordinate systems related to the slope where the landslides were located for statistical analysis. We determined that the surface uplift perpendicular to the slope is more likely to induce landslides, particularly when combined with large slope angles. Meanwhile, the number of landslides will be significantly reduced where the subsidence occurs. Regardless of uplift or subsidence, landslides are more likely to occur when the direction of coseismic horizontal displacement is far from the slope. The larger the slope angles are, the greater the effects of horizontal displacement and slope aspect. A dominant slope aspect also exists for earthquake-triggered landslides, which is different from the mean slope aspect calculated from the background topography. This dominant aspect angle is related to the focal mechanism and striking angle of surface rupture. These results indicate that we can simulate the 3D coseismic displacement field from known fault location and earthquake mechanism and combine the topographic data for landslide risk assessment in earthquake-prone mountainous areas to minimize the damage caused by possible earthquake-triggered landslides.

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Acknowledgements

The landslide inventories provided by USGS and DESIGNSAFE-CI are gratefully acknowledged. The Envisat and Sentinel-1 SAR data were provided by the European Space Agency. The ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 data were provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency through the research project PER3A2N162. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42021003 and 41974017).

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  1. School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Bei**g, 100871, China

    Ru Liu & Teng Wang

  2. Hebei Hongshan National Geophysical Observatory for Thick Sediments and Seismic Hazards, Peking University, Bei**g, 100871, China

    Teng Wang

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  1. Ru Liu
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Correspondence to Teng Wang.

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Liu, R., Wang, T. The relationship between three-dimensional coseismic displacement and distribution of coseismic landslides. Sci. China Earth Sci. 66, 1583–1602 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-1088-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-1088-1

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