Travel Distance Prediction of Landslides Triggered by the M8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake

Abstract

Volume and slope are two important factors affecting the runout distance of landslides. Field investigation on 46 landslides triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake show that there are positive linear correlations between the logarithmic values of landslide volume and travel distance. And there is also a positive linear relationship between the equivalent friction coefficient and tangent value of initial slope angle for the landslides. On the basis, we obtained an empirical-statistic equation between the horizontal and vertical travel distance, the volume and initial slope angle. This can provide a basis for prediction of earthquake-induced landslides.