Abstract
The purpose of this study was the analysis of life and property risks due to landslides in the Three Gorges area, China. A landslide susceptibility map was created using rough set theory and a support vector machine model. A scenario based on the past landslide frequency and magnitude was used to convert the susceptibility into quantitative hazard maps. The vulnerability was defined quantitatively as a function of landslide intensity and the resistance of at-risk elements. The elements at risk (population, buildings, lifeline engineering, and land resources) were extracted from color aerial photographs, and detailed information regarding these elements was collected via fieldwork. Reconstruction-cost and market-cost approaches were used to estimate the value of property. Quantitative risk maps were developed by integrating the value of the at-risk elements with the vulnerability and landslide hazard datasets. The resulting maps are presented on a continuous scale in which the numerical values indicate the distribution of risk, including the probability of expected economic losses in renminbi (RMB) and loss of lives per map unit for property and residents, respectively. Based on the final risk maps, it is clear that high-risk areas are located in Badong County and other towns and with transportation networks and urbanized areas with dense populations and high property values. Areas of moderate risk were primarily distributed in rural areas and cultivated lands. In addition, the maps show the low-level probability of expected losses in areas where landslide hazard control measures are present or where human activity is sparse, such as unutilized areas and forests. The resulting risk values involve uncertainties and are not precise predictions of future losses, but they may nevertheless help in identifying areas where damage is likely to be greater and where mitigation measures are warranted.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akgun A, Kıncal C, Pradhan B (2012) Application of remote sensing data and GIS for landslide risk assessment as an environmental threat to Izmir city (west Turkey). Environ Monit Assess 184(9):1–18. doi:10.1007/s10661-011-2352-8
Azevedo J, Guerreiro L, Bento R, Lopes M, Proença J (2010) Seismic vulnerability of lifelines in the greater Lisbon area. Bull Earthq Eng 8(1):157–180. doi:10.1007/s10518-009-9124-7
Bell R, Glade T (2004) Quantitative risk analysis for landslides? Examples from Bldudalur, NW-Iceland. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 4:117–131. doi:10.5194/nhess-4-117-2004
Blahut J (2010) Debris flow hazard and risk analysis at medium and local scale. Dissertation, University of Milano-Bicocca
Bonnard C, Noverraz F (1984) Instability risk maps: from the detection to the administration of landslide prone areas. In: Proceedings of the IV international symposium on landslides, Canadian Geotechnical Society, Toronto, p 511–516
Cardinali M, Reichenbach P, Guzzetti F, Ardizzone F, Antonini G, Galli M, Cacciano M, Castellani M, Salvati P (2002) A geomorphological approach to the estimation of landslide hazards and risks in Umbria, Central Italy. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 2(1–2):57–72. doi:10.5194/nhess-2-57-2002
Cascini L, Bonnard C, Corominas J, Jibson R, Montero-Olarte J (2005) Landslide hazard and risk zoning for urban planning and development. In: Hungr O, Fell R, Couture R, Eberhardt E (eds) Landslide risk management: proceedings of the international conference on landslide risk management. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 199–235
Castellanos Abella EA (2008) Multi-scale landslide risk assessment in Cuba. Dissertation, Utrecht University
Chen LX, Yin KL, Wang Y (2010) Risk analysis of individual landslide in the Three Gorges reservoir. In: He Q, Shen S-L (eds) Geoenvironmental engineering and geotechnics. American Society of Civil Engineers, Shanghai, pp 21–30. doi:10.1061/41105(378)4
Chowdhury R, Flentje P (2003) Role of slope reliability analysis in landslide risk management. Bull Eng Geol Environ 62(1):41–46. doi:10.1007/s10064-002-0166-1
Cruden DM, Varnes DJ (1996) Landslide types and processes. Landslides investigation and mitigation. National Academy, Washington
Dai FC, Lee CF, Ngai YY (2002) Landslide risk assessment and management: an overview. Eng Geol 64(1):65–87. doi:10.1016/S0013-7952(01)00093-X
Das I, Kumar G, Stein A, Bagchi A, Dadhwal V (2011) Stochastic landslide vulnerability modeling in space and time in a part of the northern Himalayas, India. Environ Monit Assess 178(1):25–37. doi:10.1007/s10661-010-1668-0
Duzgun HSB, Lacasse S (2005) Vulnerability and acceptable risk in integrated risk assessment framework. In: Hungr O, Fell R, Couture R, Eberhardt E (eds) Landslide risk management: proceedings of the international conference on landslide risk management. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 505–515
Erener A, Düzgün HBS (2013) A regional scale quantitative risk assessment for landslides: case of Kumluca watershed in Bartin, Turkey. Landslides 10(1):55–73. doi:10.1007/s10346-012-0317-9
Fell R, Corominas J, Bonnard C, Cascini L, Leroi E, Savage WZ (2008) Guidelines for landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk zoning for land use planning. Eng Geol 102(3–4):85–98. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.03.022
Fourniadis I, Liu J, Mason P (2007) Regional assessment of landslide impact in the Three Gorges area, China, using ASTER data: Wushan-Zigui. Landslides 4(3):267–278. doi:10.1007/s10346-007-0080-5
Ghosh S, van Westen CJ, Carranza E, Jetten V (2011) Integrating spatial, temporal, and magnitude probabilities for medium-scale landslide risk analysis in Darjeeling Himalayas, India. Landslides 9(3):371–384. doi:10.1007/s10346-011-0304-6
Glade T, Anderson MG, Crozier MJ (2006) Landslide hazard and risk. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
Guzzetti F, Carrara A, Cardinali M, Reichenbach P (1999) Landslide hazard evaluation: a review of current techniques and their application in a multi-scale study, Central Italy. Geomorphology 31(1–4):181–216. doi:10.1016/s0169-555x(99)00078-1
Guzzetti F, Ardizzone F, Cardinali M, Rossi M, Valigi D (2009) Landslide volumes and landslide mobilization rates in Umbria, central Italy. Earth Planet Sci Lett 279(3–4):222–229. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2009.01.005
Huang BL, Chen LD, Peng XM, Liu GN, Chen XT, Dong HG, Lei TC (2010) Assessment of the risk of rockfalls in Wu Gorge, Three Gorges, China. Landslides 7(1):1–11. doi:10.1007/s10346-009-0170-7
Huang BL, Yin YP, Wang SC, Chen XT, Liu GL, Jiang ZB, Liu JZ (2014) A physical similarity model of an impulsive wave generated by Gongjiafang landslide in Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Landslides 11(3):513–525. doi:10.1007/s10346-013-0453-x
Hungr O (1997) Some methods of landslide hazard intensity mapping. In: Cruden DM, Fell R (eds) Landslide risk assessment. A.A. Balkema Publisher, Rotterdam, pp 215–226
IUGS (1997) Quantitative risk assessment for slopes and landslides - the state of the art. In: Cruden DM, Fell R (eds) Landslide risk assessment. A.A. Balkema Publisher, Rotterdam, pp 3–12
Jaiswal P, van Westen CJ, Jetten V (2010) Quantitative assessment of direct and indirect landslide risk along transportation lines in southern India. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 10(6):1253–1267. doi:10.5194/nhess-10-1253-2010
Kappes MS, Papathoma-Köhle M, Keiler M (2012) Assessing physical vulnerability for multi-hazards using an indicator-based methodology. Appl Geogr 32(2):577–590. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2011.07.002
Kaynia AM, Papathoma-Köhle M, Neuhäuser B, Ratzinger K, Wenzel H, Medina-Cetina Z (2008) Probabilistic assessment of vulnerability to landslide: application to the village of Lichtenstein, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Eng Geol 101(1–2):33–48. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.03.008
Li DY, Yin KL, Leo C (2010a) Analysis of Baishuihe landslide influenced by the effects of reservoir water and rainfall. Environ Earth Sci 60(4):677–687. doi:10.1007/s12665-009-0206-2
Li ZH, Nadim F, Huang H, Uzielli M, Lacasse S (2010b) Quantitative vulnerability estimation for scenario-based landslide hazards. Landslides 7(2):125–134. doi:10.1007/s10346-009-0190-3
Liu GR, Yan EC, Lian C (2002) Discussion on classification of landslides. J Eng Geol 10(4):339–342 (in Chinese)
Malamud BD, Turcotte DL, Guzzetti F, Reichenbach P (2004) Landslide inventories and their statistical properties. Earth Surf Process Landf 29(6):687–711. doi:10.1002/esp.1064
Papathoma-Köhle M, Neuhäuser B, Ratzinger K, Wenzel H, Dominey-Howes D (2007) Elements at risk as a framework for assessing the vulnerability of communities to landslides. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 7(6):765–779. doi:10.5194/nhess-7-765-2007
Papathoma-Köhle M, Kappes M, Keiler M, Glade T (2011) Physical vulnerability assessment for alpine hazards: state of the art and future needs. Nat Hazards 58(2):645–680. doi:10.1007/s11069-010-9632-4
Peng L, Niu RQ, Huang B, Wu XL, Zhao YN, Ye RQ (2014) Landslide susceptibility mapping based on rough set theory and support vector machines: a case of the Three Gorges area, China. Geomorphology 204:287–301. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.08.013
Remondo J, Bonachea J, Cendrero A (2005) A statistical approach to landslide risk modelling at basin scale: from landslide susceptibility to quantitative risk assessment. Landslides 2(4):321–328. doi:10.1007/s10346-005-0016-x
Remondo J, Bonachea J, Cendrero A (2008) Quantitative landslide risk assessment and mapping on the basis of recent occurrences. Geomorphology 94(3–4):496–507. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.10.041
Torres-Vera MA, Antonio Canas J (2003) A lifeline vulnerability study in Barcelona, Spain. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 80(2):205–210. doi:10.1016/s0951-8320(03)00002-4
Uzielli M, Nadim F, Lacasse S, Kaynia AM (2008) A conceptual framework for quantitative estimation of physical vulnerability to landslides. Eng Geol 102(3–4):251–256. doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.03.011
Van Westen CJ, Van Asch T, Soeters R (2006) Landslide hazard and risk zonation—why is it still so difficult? Bull Eng Geol Environ 65(2):167–184. doi:10.1007/s10064-005-0023-0
Varnes DJ (1984) Landslide hazard zonation: a review of principles and practice. UNESCO, Paris
Wang FW, Li TL (2009) Landslide disaster mitigation in Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Springer Verlag, Berlin
Wang FW, Zhang YM, Huo ZT, Matsumoto T, Huang BL (2004) The July 14, 2003 Qianjiangping landslide, Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Landslides 1(2):157–162. doi:10.1007/s10346-004-0020-6
Yin KL, Zhang GR, Chen LX, Gao HX, Wang Y (2010) Landslide risk assessment. Science, Beijing (in Chinese)
Zêzere JL, Garcia RAC, Oliveira SC, Reis E (2008) Probabilistic landslide risk analysis considering direct costs in the area north of Lisbon (Portugal). Geomorphology 94(3–4):467–495. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.10.040
Zhang Y, Liu DQ, Zhou LH (2010) Quantitative models of land resources vulnerability assessment of geological hazards. Hydrogeol Eng Geol 37(3):122–126 (in Chinese)
Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (Grant 2014M560103), the National Program on Key Basic Research Project (Grant 2011CB710601), and the National High-tech R&D Program of China (Grant 2012AA121303). We are grateful to the Headquarters for the Prevention and Control of Geo-hazards in the TGR area for providing data and material. We also thank the editor and anonymous referees for their comments and contributions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peng, L., Xu, S., Hou, J. et al. Quantitative risk analysis for landslides: the case of the Three Gorges area, China. Landslides 12, 943–960 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-014-0518-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-014-0518-5