The mass balance of earthquakes and earthquake sequences

Marc, Odin; Hovius, Niels; Meunier, Patrick

doi:10.1002/2016gl068333

Cited by 55 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(65 reference statements)

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“…It is important to determine the future stability of these incipient landslides for risk assessment and to project sediment fluxes and net topographic change [Marc et al, 2016;Sepúlveda et al, 2016]. Our results suggest that achieving this requires thorough knowledge of antecedent stress conditions and perturbations, and the relative timing of a ground-damaging earthquake as a component of a wider sequence of stress perturbations experienced by a slope.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Parker et al, 2015]. This limits our ability to project the stability of ductile hillslopes into the future both in terms of the short-term effects of single earthquakes and the longer-term nature of net topographic change during and following earthquakes in different tectonic settings [Keefer, 1984;Marc et al, 2016]. The aim of this paper is to assess if and how different sequences of ground shaking influence hillslope stability and landslide displacement in ductile hillslope materials prior to, during, and following an earthquake mainshock.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The control of earthquake sequences on hillslope stability

Brain

Rosser

Tunstall

2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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Earthquakes trigger landslides in mountainous regions. Recent research suggests that the stability of hillslopes during and after a large earthquake is influenced by legacy effects of previous seismic activity. However, the shear strength and strain response of ductile hillslope materials to sequences of earthquake ground shaking of varying character is poorly constrained, inhibiting our ability to fully explain the nature of earthquake‐triggered landslides. We used geotechnical laboratory testing to simulate earthquake loading of hillslopes and to assess how different sequences of ground shaking influence hillslope stability prior to, during, and following an earthquake mainshock. Ground‐shaking events prior to a mainshock that do not result in high landslide strain accumulation can increase bulk density and interparticle friction. This strengthens a hillslope, reducing landslide displacement during subsequent seismicity. By implication, landscapes in different tectonic settings will likely demonstrate different short‐ and long‐term responses to single earthquakes due to differences in the magnitude, frequency, and sequencing of earthquakes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The control of earthquake sequences on hillslope stability

Brain

Rosser

Tunstall

2017

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…For a magnitude greater than 6.75, the acceleration saturates, and larger earthquakes do not cause higher landslide densities. The model by Marc, Hovius, and Meunier () allows anticipating bulk landslide volumes given basic information about earthquake magnitude, source location, mechanism, and topographic steepness. These parameters also can be assessed quickly after an earthquake to obtain a first constraint on coseismic landsliding or combined with a landslide size‐frequency distribution (Hovius et al, ; Malamud et al, ).…”

Section: Hazard and Risk Assessment Management And Mitigationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Earthquake magnitude and depth are first‐order controls on the degree of landscape disturbance, modulated by the character of incoming seismic waves, topography, rock‐mass properties, groundwater conditions, and other factors (Fan, Scaringi, et al, ; Gorum et al, ). Seismic shaking is an instantaneous perturbation, but its effects attenuate, and the cumulative effects of earthquakes can leave a mark in the evolution of mountain landscapes (Hovius et al, ; Marc, Hovius, & Meunier, ). A cascade of processes actually takes place after a large continental earthquake (Figure ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earthquake‐Induced Chains of Geologic Hazards: Patterns, Mechanisms, and Impacts

Fan

Scaringi

Korup

et al. 2019

Reviews of Geophysics

568

325

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Large earthquakes initiate chains of surface processes that last much longer than the brief moments of strong shaking. Most moderate‐ and large‐magnitude earthquakes trigger landslides, ranging from small failures in the soil cover to massive, devastating rock avalanches. Some landslides dam rivers and impound lakes, which can collapse days to centuries later, and flood mountain valleys for hundreds of kilometers downstream. Landslide deposits on slopes can remobilize during heavy rainfall and evolve into debris flows. Cracks and fractures can form and widen on mountain crests and flanks, promoting increased frequency of landslides that lasts for decades. More gradual impacts involve the flushing of excess debris downstream by rivers, which can generate bank erosion and floodplain accretion as well as channel avulsions that affect flooding frequency, settlements, ecosystems, and infrastructure. Ultimately, earthquake sequences and their geomorphic consequences alter mountain landscapes over both human and geologic time scales. Two recent events have attracted intense research into earthquake‐induced landslides and their consequences: the magnitude M 7.6 Chi‐Chi, Taiwan earthquake of 1999, and the M 7.9 Wenchuan, China earthquake of 2008. Using data and insights from these and several other earthquakes, we analyze how such events initiate processes that change mountain landscapes, highlight research gaps, and suggest pathways toward a more complete understanding of the seismic effects on the Earth's surface.

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“…It can be intersected with areas of vulnerability for an assessment of risk and defines the extent of the area experiencing seismically induced hillslope denudation, with geomorpohological (e.g. Marc et al, 2016a), geochemical (e.g. Jin et al, 2015), tectonic (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of the area affected by earthquake-induced landsliding based on seismological parameters

Marc

Meunier

Hovius

2017

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. We present an analytical, seismologically consistent expression for the surface area of the region within which most landslides triggered by an earthquake are located (landslide distribution area). This expression is based on scaling laws relating seismic moment, source depth, and focal mechanism with ground shaking and fault rupture length and assumes a globally constant threshold of acceleration for onset of systematic mass wasting. The seismological assumptions are identical to those recently used to propose a seismologically consistent expression for the total volume and area of landslides triggered by an earthquake. To test the accuracy of the model we gathered geophysical information and estimates of the landslide distribution area for 83 earthquakes. To reduce uncertainties and inconsistencies in the estimation of the landslide distribution area, we propose an objective definition based on the shortest distance from the seismic wave emission line containing 95 % of the total landslide area. Without any empirical calibration the model explains 56 % of the variance in our dataset, and predicts 35 to 49 out of 83 cases within a factor of 2, depending on how we account for uncertainties on the seismic source depth. For most cases with comprehensive landslide inventories we show that our prediction compares well with the smallest region around the fault containing 95 % of the total landslide area. Aspects ignored by the model that could explain the residuals include local variations of the threshold of acceleration and processes modulating the surface ground shaking, such as the distribution of seismic energy release on the fault plane, the dynamic stress drop, and rupture directivity. Nevertheless, its simplicity and first-order accuracy suggest that the model can yield plausible and useful estimates of the landslide distribution area in near-real time, with earthquake parameters issued by standard detection routines.

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The mass balance of earthquakes and earthquake sequences

Cited by 55 publications

References 28 publications

The control of earthquake sequences on hillslope stability

The control of earthquake sequences on hillslope stability

Earthquake‐Induced Chains of Geologic Hazards: Patterns, Mechanisms, and Impacts

Prediction of the area affected by earthquake-induced landsliding based on seismological parameters

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