Presentation and Analysis of a Worldwide Databaseof Earthquake-Induced Landslide Inventories

Abstract

Earthquake-induced landslide (EQIL) inventories are essential tools to extend our knowledge ofthe relationship between earthquakes and the landslides they can trigger. Regrettably, such inventoriesare difficult to generate and therefore scarce, and the available ones differ in terms of their quality and levelof completeness. Moreover, access to existing EQIL inventories is currently difficult because there is nocentralized database. To address these issues, we compiled EQIL inventories from around the globe based onan extensive literature study. The database contains information on 363 landslide-triggering earthquakesand includes 66 digital landslide inventories. To make these data openly available, we created a repository tohost the digital inventories that we have permission to redistribute through the U.S. Geological SurveyScienceBase platform. It can grow over time as more authors contribute their inventories. We analyze thedistribution of EQIL events by time period and location, more specifically breaking down the distributionby continent, country, and mountain region. Additionally, we analyze frequency distributions of EQILcharacteristics, such as the approximate area affected by landslides, total number of landslides, maximumdistance from fault rupture zone, and distance from epicenter when the fault plane location is unknown. Forthe available digital EQIL inventories, we examine the underlying characteristics of landslide size,topographic slope, roughness, local relief, distance to streams, peak ground acceleration, peak groundvelocity, and Modified Mercalli Intensity. Also, we present an evaluation system to help users assess thesuitability of the available inventories for different types of EQIL studies and model development.