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Landslide hazard cascades can trigger earthquakes.
Zhen Zhang1, Min Liu2, Yen Joe Tan3
1Earth and Environmental Sciences Programme, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R., China. zhenzhang@cuhk.edu.hk.
Nature Communications
|April 8, 2024
Summary
Surface hazards like landslides can trigger earthquakes. Landslide-dammed lakes on the Tibetan plateau correlated with increased seismic activity, suggesting bidirectional triggering is crucial for hazard assessment.
Area of Science:
- Geophysics
- Natural Hazards
- Seismology
Background:
- Earthquakes are known to trigger surface hazards, but the reverse is less understood.
- Landslides can create landslide-dammed lakes, leading to outburst floods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if surface hazards, specifically landslide-dammed lakes, can trigger seismic activity.
- To analyze the relationship between landslide-dammed lakes and earthquake occurrence.
Main Methods:
- Machine learning and cross-correlation methods to build an earthquake catalog.
- Coulomb stress modeling to assess stress changes on faults.
- Analysis of seismic activity in relation to landslide-dammed lake water levels.
Main Results:
- A statistically significant increase in earthquake activity (local magnitude ≤ 2.6) was observed as landslide-dammed lakes neared peak water levels.
- ~90% of seismicity occurred in areas with increased Coulomb stress due to direct loading and pore pressure diffusion.
- Seismic activity returned to background levels after the landslide dams breached.
Conclusions:
- Earthquake activity was triggered by landslide hazard cascades, demonstrating bidirectional triggering between surface hazards and earthquakes.
- Earthquake triggering by landslide-dammed lakes may be a widespread phenomenon, necessitating inclusion in geological hazard assessments.
- Understanding bidirectional triggering is essential for managing geological risks in mountainous regions.
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