Distribution and Mobility of Coseismic Landslides Triggered by the 2018 Hokkaido Earthquake in Japan

Abstract

At 3:08 on 6 September 2018 (UTC +9), massive landslides were triggered by an earthquake of Mw 6.6 that occurred in Hokkaido, Japan. In this paper, a coseismic landslide inventory that covers 388 km2 of the earthquake-impacted area and includes 5828 coseismic landslides with a total landslide area of 23.66 km2 was compiled by using visual interpretations of various high-resolution satellite images. To analyze the spatial distribution and characteristics of coseismic landslides, five factors were considered: the peak ground acceleration (PGA), elevation, slope gradient, slope aspect, and lithology. Results show more than 87% of the landslides occurred at 100 to 200 m elevations. Slopes in the range of 10~20°are the most susceptible to failure. The landslide density of the places with peak ground acceleration (PGA) greater than 0.16 g is obviously larger than those with PGA less than 0.02 g. Compared with the number and scale of coseismic landslides caused by other strong earthquakes and the mobility of the coseismic landslides caused by the Haiyan and Wenchuan earthquakes, it was found that the distribution of coseismic landslides was extremely dense and that the mobility of the Hokkaido earthquake was greater than that of the Wenchuan earthquake and weaker than that of the Haiyuan earthquake, and is described by the following relationship: L = 18.454 ∗ H0.612. Comparative analysis of coseismic landslides with similar magnitude has important guiding significance for disaster prevention and reduction and reconstruction planning of landslides in affected areas.