Incorporating Triggering and Environmental Factors in the Analysis of Earthquake-Induced Landslide Hazards

Ming Wang,Saini Yang,Peijun Shi,Min Liu

doi:10.1007/s13753-014-0020-7

Ming Wang, Saini Yang + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-014-0020-7

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Abstract

Pingwu County of Sichuan Province was severely hit by the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake and experienced widely distributed earthquake-induced landslides. We proposed an integrated method that incorporates landslide triggering factors embedded in the Newmark displacement computation and other environmental factors, expressed as lithology, land-use type, vegetation cover (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI), elevation, and profile and plan curvature, in the analysis of earthquake-induced landslide hazards in the study area. The earthquake-induced landslide inventory of this area was obtained by visual interpretation of two high-resolution SPOT-5 images before and after the earthquake. We used GIS tools to generate an equal number of landslide and non-landslide cell samples in a 30-m grid map, and assigned triggering and environmental variables to each cell. A logistic regression model was built to investigate the occurrence of earthquake-induced landslides. The results show that Newmark displacement (in which triggering factors are embedded) and lithology (as an environmental factor) were the two dominant variables controlling landslide occurrence. Other environmental factors, including NDVI, land-use type, and elevation, also significantly affected landslide occurrences. Overall 81.2 % correctness was achieved in the regression model. The results confirm the predictive power of our method, which integrates both triggering and environmental factors in modeling earthquake-induced landslides.

Highlights

Landslides, defined as the movement of a mass of rocks, debris, or earth down a slope (Cruden 1991), globally cause large numbers of casualties and enormous property losses every year
The results show that Newmark displacement and lithology were the two dominant variables controlling landslide occurrence
In this study we examined the following environmental factors that are identified in the literature (Keefer 2000; Baeza and Corominas 2001; Duman et al 2006; GarcıaRodrıguez et al 2008; Garcıa-Rodrıguez and Malpica 2010; Hasegawa et al 2008; Lee et al 2008; Meunier et al 2008; Lee et al 2010) as possible landslide contributing factors: elevation (Digital Elevation Model, digital elevation model (DEM)), lithology, vegetation cover, land use, terrain roughness, relief degree of land surface (RDLS), profile curvature, and plan curvature

Summary

Introduction

Landslides, defined as the movement of a mass of rocks, debris, or earth down a slope (Cruden 1991), globally cause large numbers of casualties and enormous property losses every year. An earthquake can cause a large number of landslides if it occurs in a mountainous area, and can result in huge direct and indirect losses. Much research has been conducted on susceptibility assessment of earthquake-induced landslides from a range of perspectives, using different approaches. From the perspective of geomorphology, environmental factors describe the external conditions under which various numbers and sizes of slope failures may appear. Keefer (1984a, b) conducted field investigations and undertook a statistical study of earthquakeinduced landslides worldwide.

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