Characteristics of earthquakes in mountain areas and post-earthquake management

Abstract

Using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technique and remote-sensing images and aerial photographs collected from the Wenchuan earthquake region, this chapter analyzes the occurrence of geo-hazards and their correlations with the distance from the co-seismic fault, slope steepness, elevation, and rock type. Our findings show that the geo-hazards triggered by earthquakes are distributed along co-seismic fault and rivers. Specifically, geo-hazards tend to concentrate in areas near the hanging wall of co-seismic fault more than in those near the footwall. The slope's steepness is also a key factor deciding the development of quake-induced geo-hazards, since most of the latter are distributed at the mountain areas within the range of 20-50°. In addition, geo-hazards are found to have a close relationship to the elevation and micro-landform and that thin ridge, isolated or full-face space mountains are most sensitive to seismic waves, and thus have a striking amplification effect on geo-hazards. Lastly, we suggest that the above findings may serve as an important basis for the reconstruction of earthquake-hit mountain regions. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.