Rapid Estimates of Earthquake-Induced Mass Movements and Liquefaction Likelihoods in Switzerland Via Shakemap

Abstract eng:
In Switzerland, nearly all historical MW ~> 6 earthquakes are associated to damaging rockslides, resulting in some cases into destruction of settlements and loss of lives. Liquefaction is known to have occurred historically due to the 1855 MW 6.2 earthquake of Visp, where the valley floor is presently highly built and industrialised. We describe in this contribution the customisation to Swiss conditions of globally calibrated empirical approaches for the near-real-time estimation of earthquake-induced landslide and liquefaction likelihoods. We parameterise the probability of occurrence of these secondary hazards through a set of georeferenced susceptibility proxies (e.g., geomorphology, surface geology, ground types, soil wetness) and intensity measures (e.g., intensity-derived peak ground acceleration, PGA). The coefficients of the predictive models are calibrated against the shaking constraints from past events and optimised for near-real-time estimates based on USGS-style ShakeMaps used at SED since 2007. Emphasis is on the use of high-resolution topographic datasets along with geological and geotechnical information available in the Swiss context. This study facilitates future investigations on the rapid assessment of the likelihood of earthquake-induced lake tsunamis triggered by underwater landslides and has a high practical relevance to Swiss ShakeMap end-users and stakeholders managing lifeline systems.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket