Earthquake-induced landslides in Norway
<p>Norway is located in an intraplate setting with low-to-moderate seismicity. The mountainous landscape leads to a high level of landside activity throughout the country. Earthquake-induced landslides (EQILs) are common in seismically active areas, but there are only a few studies of EQILs in...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences |
| Online Access: | https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/23/1577/2023/nhess-23-1577-2023.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Norway is located in an intraplate setting with low-to-moderate seismicity. The mountainous landscape leads to a high level of
landside activity throughout the country. Earthquake-induced landslides
(EQILs) are common in seismically active areas, but there are only a few
studies of EQILs in intraplate regions. We systematically analyse all
earthquakes in Norway with magnitudes <span class="inline-formula">≥</span> 4.5 in the time period
1800–2021 CE. For each event we search for reports of EQILs in the available
macroseismic data and in the Norwegian landslide database. We furthermore
consider precipitation data from the Norwegian Centre for Climate Services to
evaluate the role of precipitation in the triggering of the identified
potential EQILs. Through this approach, we identify 22 EQILs that have been
triggered by eight earthquakes in the magnitude range 4.5–5.9. The events are
widely distributed in northern and southern Norway. The maximum landslide
distance limits and landslide-affected areas are much larger than those
found in empirical studies of global datasets and are in agreement with data
from other intraplate regions. For four of the earthquakes, it seems that
landslide triggering was due to a combined effect of precipitation and
earthquake ground shaking. Our observations confirm that intraplate
earthquakes have the potential to trigger EQILs over large distances, most likely
due to the low ground motion attenuation in such regions. Slope
susceptibility seems to be another important factor in the triggering. Our
conclusions demonstrate the importance of considering EQIL potential in
earthquake risk management in intraplate regions.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1561-8633 1684-9981 |