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River-damming landslides during the 1960 Chile earthquake (M9.5) and earlier events: implications for risk assessment in the San Pedro River basin

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Abstract

Damming rivers by landslides and ensuing outburst flooding is a common and potentially hazardous phenomenon worldwide, especially in tectonically active regions. Remarkable examples are the damming of the upper course of the San Pedro River (SPR) in south Chile during the 1960 Chile earthquake (M9.5) and its predecessor in 1575. Outburst floods following both events had tragic consequences for downstream communities. Here, we study both events from multiple sources of information, including previously published and newly found historical records, satellite imagery, LiDAR topography, and sedimentological and geomorphological field observations. We present the first detailed geomorphic map of the region. Morphological similarities between ancient deposits at the SPR and those associated with the 1960 earthquake suggest that the SPR has been dammed repeatedly in the past. The steep incision of the SPR and the sediments of glacio-lacustrine origin in the surrounding slopes facilitate the initiation of large landslides. The knowledge gained from studying these past events provides important implications for future risk assessments. We propose that besides large earthquakes, smaller and more frequent earthquakes as well as changes in land use, can also result in river-damming events.

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Acknowledgements

CAC acknowledges the support of the Doctoral program of the Institute of Geography of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. MC and DM acknowledge the support of the Iniciativa Científica Milenio (ICM) through Grant NºNC160025 and the Chilean National Fund for Development of Science and Technology (FONDECYT) Nº1231735. JM acknowledges the support of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project NºP34504. Special thanks to Marco Cisternas for his support and valuable ideas and Fernando Torrejón for his collaboration in the search for unpublished historical information and his references to information already published.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Agency for Research and Development of Chile (ANID) through the following programs: Millennium Scientific Initiative (ICM), Grant/Award Number: NC160025; Chilean National Fund for Development of Science and Technology (FONDECYT), Grant/Award Number: 1231735; and Doctoral support program Grant/Award Number: 21201355. Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project number P34504.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geografía, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile

    Cristian Araya-Cornejo

  2. Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Cristian Araya-Cornejo

  3. Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaiso, Chile

    Matías Carvajal

  4. Millennium Nucleus The Seismic Cycle Along Subduction Zones, Valdivia, Chile

    Matías Carvajal & Daniel Melnick

  5. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, TAQUACH, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile

    Daniel Melnick

  6. Institute of Geology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Jasper Moernaut

  7. Deprtamento de Geografía, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    César Araya

  8. Chair for Computational Analysis of Technical Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Felipe González

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  1. Cristian Araya-Cornejo
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  2. Matías Carvajal
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  3. Daniel Melnick
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  4. Jasper Moernaut
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  5. César Araya
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Contributions

CAC, MC, DM, and JM led the preparation of the manuscript and conceptualized the research. CAC, DM, and JM collected field data and assisted in logistics. DM obtained the main source of funding for this project. CAC and MC analyzed and contextualized the historical information about the earthquakes. CAC, DM, and JM performed the landslide analysis. CAC and CA processed the GIS information, including the LiDAR data and elaborated the geomorphological map. CAC and FG collected information and calculated the erosion rate of the LT3 scarp. All authors contributed to the review and editing of the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Cristian Araya-Cornejo.

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Araya-Cornejo, C., Carvajal, M., Melnick, D. et al. River-damming landslides during the 1960 Chile earthquake (M9.5) and earlier events: implications for risk assessment in the San Pedro River basin. Nat Hazards (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-024-06474-8

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