Risk assessment of land subsidence at Tianjin coastal area in China

Abstract

Risk assessment and zoning are very important to risk management. In this study, a land subsidence risk assessment index was proposed based on the Disaster Risk Index. The cumulative subsidence volume, the land subsidence velocity, and the groundwater exploitation intensity were collected, analyzed, and put together to create a land subsidence hazard evaluation map in Tianjin coastal area. The population density, Gross Domestic Product per square kilometer, and construction land proportion were adopted as indexes to create the vulnerability map. In addition, the capability of land subsidence prevention and reduction was also assessed. Finally, the land subsidence risk map was created by combing the hazard, vulnerability, and the capability of land subsidence prevention and reduction map. Specifically, the land subsidence risk was classified into five levels, i.e., very high, high, medium, low, and very low. The result of this research could provide a solid basis for the sustainable development as well as disaster prevention policy-making of Tianjin city.