Abstract
At approximately 3:50 a.m. (UTC + 8) on August 21, 2020, a massive rainfall-induced landslide occurred in Zhonghaicun, Fuquan town, Hanyuan County, Sichuan Province, China, forming an approximately 40.85 × 104 m3 landslide accumulation, burying eight houses and approximately 100 m of roads, and causing long-term traffic interruptions. The landslide was comprehensively evaluated through field investigation, UAV photography, borehole drilling, and laboratory tests. According to movement and accumulation characteristics, the landslide is divided into the main sliding zones (the source area, impact sliding area, shoveling-accumulation area, and accumulation area) and landslide-affected zones. The deformation and failure of the Zhonghaicun landslide are related to the lithology (existence of a weak interlayer), geomorphology (microrelief changes), and antecedent rainfall. However, the main trigger of the landslide is continuous rainfall, which increases the landslide saturation and pore water pressure and reduces the mechanical strength of the weak layer. The landslide failure mode is complex. The upper slope is affected by rainfall and loses stability first. Under the impact of the sliding mass, sliding of the lower slope is triggered. This study of the Zhonghaicun landslide characterizes the evolution process of a complex rainfall-induced landslide and provides ways to mitigate landslide disasters.
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Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to the Sichuan Institute of Geological Engineering Investigation Group Co. Ltd. for providing borehole data and geotechnical exploration reports. We also grateful for the DOMs and DEMs provided by the 606 Brigade of Sichuan Metallurgical Geological Survey Bureau. The authors also thank the Hanyuan County Meteorological Bureau for providing rainfall data. We would like to thank our team Weikong Zeng, Jinnan Han, and Jiawei Dun, in the College of Environment and Civil Engineering, for cooperating during site investigation and laboratory testing for samples taken from the Zhonghaicun landslide. We also thank the anonymous referees and the editor for their constructive feedbacks and suggestions that encourage us to improve the quality of this paper.
Funding
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41977252, U2005205) and the State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection Independent Research Project (Grant No. SKLGP2020Z001).
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Yi, X., Feng, W., Bai, H. et al. Catastrophic landslide triggered by persistent rainfall in Sichuan, China: August 21, 2020, Zhonghaicun landslide. Landslides 18, 2907–2921 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-021-01701-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-021-01701-w