Application of a characteristic periods-based (CPB) approach to estimate earthquake-induced displacements of landslides through dynamic numerical modelling

The interaction between seismic waves and slopes is an important topic to provide reliable scenarios for earthquake-(re)triggered landslides. The physical properties of seismic waves as well as slope topography and geology can significantly modify the local seismic response, influencing landslide triggering. A novel approach is here applied to two case studies in Andalusia (southern Spain) for computing the expected earthquake-induced displacements of existing landslide masses. Towards this aim, dynamic stress–strain numerical modelling was carried out using a selection of seismic signals characterized by different spectral content and energy. In situ geophysical measurements, consisting of noise records and temporary seismometric arrays, were carried out to control the numerical outputs in terms of local seismic response. The results consist of relationships between the characteristic period, Tm, of the seismic signals and the characteristic periods of the landslide masses, related to the thickness (Ts) and length (Tl), respectively. These relationships show that the larger the horizontal dimension (i.e. length of landslide) of a landslide is, the more effective the contribution (to the resulting coseismic displacement) of the long-period seismic waves is, as the maximum displacements are expected for a low Tm at each energy level of the input. On the other hand, when the local seismic response mainly depends on stratigraphy (i.e. landslide thickness), the maximum expected displacements occur close to the resonance period of the landslide, except for high-energy seismic inputs.