A novel approach to probabilistic seismic landslide hazard mapping using Monte Carlo simulations

As a potential destructive secondary hazard initiated by earthquakes, earthquake-triggered landslides can cause significant losses. Seismic landslide hazard maps are important for land use planning and landslide hazard reduction in tectonically active areas. A comprehensive probabilistic seismic lan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Engineering geology Vol. 301; p. 106616
Main Authors: Li, Chao, Wang, Gongmao, He, Jianjian, Wang, Yubing
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 01-05-2022
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Summary:As a potential destructive secondary hazard initiated by earthquakes, earthquake-triggered landslides can cause significant losses. Seismic landslide hazard maps are important for land use planning and landslide hazard reduction in tectonically active areas. A comprehensive probabilistic seismic landslide hazard mapping approach incorporating the uncertainties of slope properties and displacement prediction is required to promote the application of hazard maps. Based on the definition of the critical slope angle, this paper proposes an alternative seismic landslide hazard category considering the uncertainty of geotechnical properties of soil using Monte Carlo simulations and incorporating the ground motion variability based on the displacement hazard curve. The proposed new hazard category is applied to the region of Anchorage, Alaska, for the seismic landslide hazard mapping process. Subsequently, parameter analyses are performed to explore the sensitivity among the factors that contributed to the seismic landslide hazard map. The results of seismic landslide hazard maps show that the area of hazardous zone of most geologic units in present study is smaller than that in the deterministic analysis. Comparing with the probabilistic method using logic tree analysis, the proposed approach using Monte Carlo simulations predicts different landslide hazardous zone due to the probabilistic distribution of geotechnical properties of soil. The predicted hazardous zone is also sensitive to the resolution of the digital elevation model and different coefficient of variation combinations. •A new procedure to seismic landslide hazard mapping using Monte Carlo simulation.•The uncertainty of geotechnical properties of soil and seismic motions are all considered.•A new seismic landslide hazard category defined by critical slope angle instead of sliding displacement threshold.•Proposed mapping approach is applied to the region of Anchorage, Alaska.•Sensitivity analysis for different influence factors characterized the variability of geotechnical properties of slope.
ISSN:0013-7952
1872-6917
DOI:10.1016/j.enggeo.2022.106616