Engineering and Technological Sciences
Abstract
Studying the development and evolution characteristics of typical geological hazards along trunk highways in strong earthquake mountainous areas and their disaster-forming dynamic processes holds significant theoretical and practical importance for early hazard identification, risk assessment, and disaster prevention and mitigation in transportation corridors. This paper takes the southern segment of the Longmenshan Fault Zone as the study area, and integrates field surveys, remote sensing interpretation, and GIS spatial analysis techniques to reveal the superimposed impact patterns of the 2013 and 2022 Lushan multi-phase earthquakes on co-seismic geological hazards along the Baoxing section of National Highway 351. Furthermore, the three-dimensional two-phase material point method (MPM) is employed to quantitatively simulate the entire process of initiation–movement–river blockage of the Xinhua Village high-position accumulation landslide, and key techniques for scenario deduction of high-position collapse-slide hazards in seismically active areas are discussed.
The results indicate: (1) A total of 215 co-seismic geological hazards triggered by the 2022 earthquake are developed in the study area, mainly distributed on slopes within 1500 m elevation on both sides of the Donghe River valley, on slopes with gradients of 30°–50°. A shared distribution characteristic with the 2013 co-seismic hazards is that high and steep slopes in hard rock areas are high-incidence zones for hazards. (2) The development and distribution of the 2022 co-seismic geological hazards are primarily controlled by topographic, fluvial, and fault factors, showing weak spatial coupling with the epicenter location. Hazard points posing greater impact on the highway mainly develop on prominent mountain sections with multiple free faces and near the fault zone, and are significantly influenced by the superposition of multi-phase earthquakes and historical rainfall. (3) The Xinhua Village high-position landslide, affected by the superimposed effects of multi-phase earthquakes, rainfall, and freeze-thaw cycles, exhibited progressive retrogressive deformation expanding upwards over the past decade, ultimately leading to large-scale instability and river blockage under the strong 2022 earthquake. The three-dimensional two-phase MPM simulation reproduced the entire process of landslide movement → water entry and surge → accumulation and dam formation. The results show a landslide volume of approximately 760,000 m³, a maximum movement distance of about 609 m, and a maximum surge height of 8 m. The simulated post-movement accumulation morphology generally matches the field observations. The research findings provide theoretical and technical support for pre-disaster risk assessment and post-disaster reconstruction of trunk highways in strong earthquake mountainous areas.
Full Text
Development and Evolution Characteristics of Geological Hazards and Disaster Movement Processes of Mountain Trunk Highways under the Influence of Lushan Earthquake
Wu Kai1, Yi Xuebin1, Fu Xiaodong2,3*, Du Wenjie2,3, Ding Haifeng2,3, Zhao Haisong1, Xi Tian2,3
(1. Sichuan Highway Planning, Survey, Design and Research Institute Ltd., Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China 2. State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Safety, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430071, China 3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)
Abstract
Studying the development and evolution characteristics of typical geological hazards along trunk highways in strong earthquake mountainous areas and their disaster-forming dynamic processes holds significant theoretical and practical importance for early hazard identification, risk assessment, and disaster prevention and mitigation in transportation corridors. This paper takes the southern segment of the Longmenshan Fault Zone as the study area, integrating field surveys, remote sensing interpretation, and GIS spatial analysis techniques to reveal the superimposed impact patterns of the 2013 and 2022 Lushan multi-phase earthquakes on co-seismic geological hazards along the Baoxing section of National Highway 351. Furthermore, the three-dimensional two-phase Material Point Method (MPM) is employed to quantitatively simulate the entire process of the Xinhua Village high-position accumulation landslide, from initiation and movement to river blockage, and key techniques for scenario deduction of high-position collapse and landslide hazards in seismically active areas are discussed.
The results indicate: (1) A total of 215 co-seismic geological hazards developed in the study area in 2022, primarily distributed on slopes within 1500 m elevation on both sides of the Donghe River valley, on slopes with gradients of 30° to 50°. A shared distribution characteristic with the 2013 co-seismic hazards is that high and steep slopes composed of hard rock are high-incidence areas for hazards. (2) The development and distribution of the 2022 co-seismic geological hazards are mainly controlled by geomorphological, fluvial, and fault factors, showing weak spatial coupling with the epicenter location. Hazard points with significant impact on the highway mainly developed on protruding mountain sections with multiple free faces and near the fault zone, and are significantly influenced by the superimposed effects of multi-phase earthquakes and historical rainfall. (3) The Xinhua Village high-position landslide, affected by the superimposed influences of multi-phase earthquakes, rainfall, and freeze-thaw cycles, exhibited progressive retrogressive deformation continuously expanding upwards over the past decade, ultimately leading to large-scale instability and river blockage under the 2022 strong earthquake. The 3D two-phase MPM simulation reproduced the entire process of landslide movement → water entry and surge wave → accumulation and dam formation. The results show the landslide volume is approximately 760,000 m³, the maximum movement distance is about 609 m, and the maximum surge height is 8 m. The simulated post-movement accumulation morphology of the landslide is largely consistent with the field observations. The research findings provide theoretical and technical support for pre-disaster risk assessment and post-disaster reconstruction of trunk highways in strong earthquake mountainous areas.
Keywords: Lushan earthquake; geological hazards; development and evolution characteristics; three-dimensional two-phase MPM; dynamic process analysis
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This version posted 2025-09-02.