Detailed inventory mapping and spatial analyses to landslides induced by the 2013 Ms 6.6 Minxian earthquake of China

Abstract

On July 22, 2013, an earthquake (Ms 6.6) occurred in Minxian, Gansu Province of China, causing a large number of landslides. Based on high resolution remote sensing images before and after this event, we made the visual interpretation to these coseismic landslides, and prepared a detailed inventory. The inventory registers totally 6 478 landslides in the study area. Of them, 3 322 landslides are larger than 100 m2. Based on 5 m resolution DEM, these landslides were used to perform spatial analyses using landslide number density (LND) and landslide area percentage (LAP). The results show that the highest LND and LAP values are in the elevation range of 2 300–2 500 m and steeper slopes. Slopes facing E, SE, S and SW directions, slopes with larger absolute curvature values, ridges, scopes of gravel beds of Late Pleistocene (Qp) and the VIII-degree seismic intensity are more prone to sliding with high LND and LAP values. The largest LND and LAP values are in the scopes of 0.08 and 0.24 g, respectively. According to landslide distribution, we infer that F2-2 branch of Lintan-Dangchang fault is the seismogenic fault. With the increasing distances to this branch fault and drainages, LND and LAP values tend to decrease.