Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers
Different soil cover saturation has a significant effect in influencing slope stability conditions of weathered covers under earthquake-induced shaking. Here we analyze the Montecilfone, Italy (2018), case history, an Mw 5.1 earthquake that revealed an exceptionality in the spatial distribution of t...
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| author | Salvatore Martino Gian Marco Marmoni Matteo Fiorucci Antonio Francesco Ceci Marco Emanuele Discenza Javad Rouhi Davit Tedoradze |
| author_facet | Salvatore Martino Gian Marco Marmoni Matteo Fiorucci Antonio Francesco Ceci Marco Emanuele Discenza Javad Rouhi Davit Tedoradze |
| author_sort | Salvatore Martino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Different soil cover saturation has a significant effect in influencing slope stability conditions of weathered covers under earthquake-induced shaking. Here we analyze the Montecilfone, Italy (2018), case history, an Mw 5.1 earthquake that revealed an exceptionality in the spatial distribution of the surveyed earthquake-induced shallow landslides. This feature can be justified as intense rainfall occurred in the epicentral area before the seismic event, contributing to increasing the saturation and the weight of the soil covers. To verify the effective influence of antecedent rainfall as a preparatory factor in the earthquake triggering of soil covers, stability conditions for both static and dynamic scenarios were validated by reconstructing different saturation conditions related to a rainfall event that occurred before the earthquake. Soil cover surveying was performed within a 150 km<sup>2</sup> area to output its spatial distribution in terms of their compositional features and thickness, whose variability was constrained through empirical models. Based on laboratory test results, 1D infiltration numerical models were performed through the Hydrus-1D free domain software to estimate the saturation degree of the soil cover and the water infiltration depth, taking as a reference the intensity of the rainfall event. Soil cover sequential charts of water content were obtained at different depths and times up to those recorded at the time of earthquake occurrence by the performed numerical modelling. Safety factors (SFs) of the slope covers were quantified assuming an unsaturated condition in the slope stability equation. The outputs reveal that pore pressure spatial distribution in the unsaturated medium infers on the earthquake-induced scenario of shallow landsliding, demonstrating its role as a preparatory factor for earthquake-induced shallow landslides. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:09:33Z |
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| id | doaj.art-3e69a893923c4ebe896d1bc753449f12 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:09:33Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
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| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e69a893923c4ebe896d1bc753449f122023-11-24T00:21:19ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-03-01126291710.3390/app12062917Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope CoversSalvatore Martino0Gian Marco Marmoni1Matteo Fiorucci2Antonio Francesco Ceci3Marco Emanuele Discenza4Javad Rouhi5Davit Tedoradze6Department of Earth Sciences and Research Centre for Geological Risks (CERI), University of Rome “Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, ItalyDepartment of Earth Sciences and Research Centre for Geological Risks (CERI), University of Rome “Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, ItalyDepartment of Earth Sciences and Research Centre for Geological Risks (CERI), University of Rome “Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, ItalyDepartment of Earth Sciences and Research Centre for Geological Risks (CERI), University of Rome “Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, ItalyGeoservizi S.r.l., Via Luigi e Nicola Marinelli 2, I-86025 Ripalimosani, ItalyDepartment of Earth Sciences and Research Centre for Geological Risks (CERI), University of Rome “Sapienza”, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, ItalyDepartment of Geology, National Environmental Agency, Tbilisi 1062, GeorgiaDifferent soil cover saturation has a significant effect in influencing slope stability conditions of weathered covers under earthquake-induced shaking. Here we analyze the Montecilfone, Italy (2018), case history, an Mw 5.1 earthquake that revealed an exceptionality in the spatial distribution of the surveyed earthquake-induced shallow landslides. This feature can be justified as intense rainfall occurred in the epicentral area before the seismic event, contributing to increasing the saturation and the weight of the soil covers. To verify the effective influence of antecedent rainfall as a preparatory factor in the earthquake triggering of soil covers, stability conditions for both static and dynamic scenarios were validated by reconstructing different saturation conditions related to a rainfall event that occurred before the earthquake. Soil cover surveying was performed within a 150 km<sup>2</sup> area to output its spatial distribution in terms of their compositional features and thickness, whose variability was constrained through empirical models. Based on laboratory test results, 1D infiltration numerical models were performed through the Hydrus-1D free domain software to estimate the saturation degree of the soil cover and the water infiltration depth, taking as a reference the intensity of the rainfall event. Soil cover sequential charts of water content were obtained at different depths and times up to those recorded at the time of earthquake occurrence by the performed numerical modelling. Safety factors (SFs) of the slope covers were quantified assuming an unsaturated condition in the slope stability equation. The outputs reveal that pore pressure spatial distribution in the unsaturated medium infers on the earthquake-induced scenario of shallow landsliding, demonstrating its role as a preparatory factor for earthquake-induced shallow landslides.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/6/2917earthquake triggered landslidespredisposing factorslandslide scenariosoil covers saturationmultihazard |
| spellingShingle | Salvatore Martino Gian Marco Marmoni Matteo Fiorucci Antonio Francesco Ceci Marco Emanuele Discenza Javad Rouhi Davit Tedoradze Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers Applied Sciences earthquake triggered landslides predisposing factors landslide scenario soil covers saturation multihazard |
| title | Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers |
| title_full | Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers |
| title_fullStr | Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers |
| title_short | Role of Antecedent Rainfall in the Earthquake-Triggered Shallow Landslides Involving Unsaturated Slope Covers |
| title_sort | role of antecedent rainfall in the earthquake triggered shallow landslides involving unsaturated slope covers |
| topic | earthquake triggered landslides predisposing factors landslide scenario soil covers saturation multihazard |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/6/2917 |
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