Effects of seismic anisotropy and geological characteristics on the kinematics of the neighboring Jiufengershan and Hungtsaiping landslides during Chi-Chi earthquake

The Chi-Chi earthquake (Mw = 7.6) of September 21, 1999 triggered many landslides in central Taiwan. Two of these landslides, Hungtsaiping (HTP) and Jiufengershan (JFES) were situated as close as 2 km from each other but had significant differences in their kinematics. JFES landslide was a catastrophic rockslide-avalanche and the HTP landslide was relatively slow-moving. The authors conducted a study to explore the reasons for such differences. Factors such as the characteristics of strong ground motion, sliding direction of landslide, and friction angle of the sliding surface were considered in the study. An analysis of 12 strong-motion records collected in the study area showed that the distribution of horizontal pseudostatic coefficients, earthquake energy ratio and permanent sliding-block displacements (Newmark displacement) were anisotropic with their predominant direction mostly in the E/W-ESE/WNW trending. This direction is perpendicular to the axis of the main geological structures of the studied area. The computed Newmark displacement in the sliding direction of the JFES landslide is larger (44%) than that of the HTP landslide with sliding surface inclination of 21° and friction angle of 28° We can conclude that the seismic anisotropy and the corresponding sliding direction are important contributing factors to the kinematics of studied landslides. The back-calculated friction angle of the sliding surface that corresponds to a critical Newmark displacement for the JFES landslide is about 3.5° higher than that of HTP landslide. The material (colluvium) on the sliding surface in HTP should be less velocity-dependent than that of the JFES landslide (rock) according to the back calculations. The importance of seismic anisotropy, sliding direction, and mechanical properties of sliding surface on the kinematics of deep-seated landslides is demonstrated.