Deposits' Morphology of the 2018 Hokkaido Iburi-Tobu Earthquake Mass Movements from LiDAR & Aerial Photographs

On 6 September at 03:08 a.m. local time, a 33 km deep earthquake underneath the Iburi mountains triggered more than 7000 co-seismic mass movements within 25 km of the epicenter. Most of the mass movements occurred in complex terrain and became coalescent. However, a total of 59 mass movements occurred as discrete events and stopped on the semi-horizontal valley floor. Using this case study, the authors aimed to define planar and vertical parameters to (1) compare the geometrical parameters with rain-triggered mass movements and (2) to extend existing datasets used for hazards and disaster risk purposes. To reach these objectives, the methodology relies on LiDAR data flown in the aftermath of the earthquake as well as aerial photographs. Using a Geographical Information System (GIS), planform and vertical parameters were extracted from the DEM in order to calculate the relationship between areas and volume, between the Fahrboschung and the volume of the deposits, and to discuss the relationship between the deposit slope surface and the effective stress of the deposit. Results have shown that the relation S=k[Vd]2/3 (where S is the surface area of a deposit and V-d the volume, and k a scalar that is function of S) is k = 2.1842ln(S) - 10.167 with a R-2 of 0.52, with less variability in deposits left by valley-confined processes compared to open-slope processes. The Fahrboschung for events that started as valley-confined mass-movements was Fc = -0.043ln(D) + 0.7082, with a R-2 of 0.5, while for open-slope mass-movements, the Fo = -0.046ln(D) + 0.7088 with a R-2 of 0.52. The T-values, as defined by Takahashi (2014), are displaying values as high as nine times that of the values for experimental rainfall debris-flow, signifying that the effective stress is higher than in rain-triggered counterparts, which have an increased pore pressure due to the need for further water in the material to be moving. For co-seismic debris-flows and other co-seismic mass movements it is the ground acceleration that fluidizes the material. The maxima found in this study are as high as 3.75.

Automated summary

This study used a earthquake that occurred in the Iburi mountains in 2018 as a case study to analyze the planar and vertical parameters of mass movements. The findings showed that seismic-triggered mass movements have higher effective stress and ground acceleration compared to rain-triggered mass movements.