Geohazards Induced by the Lushan Ms7.0 Earthquake in Sichuan Province, Southwest China:Typical Examples, Types and Distributional Characteristics

Geohazards induced by the Lushan Ms 7.0 earthquake on April 20, 2013 mainly have four types： collapse, landslide, slope debris flow, and sand-soil liquefaction. These geohazards mainly occurred near the epicenter, on steep slopes or below cliffs in high mountain and deep valley areas, and at or near fault ends. They have no obvious relationships to active faults, but their relationships to the weathering degree and structures of rock and rock mass are obvious. Compared with the Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008, the Lnshan earthquake is relatively little in the impact force and the throwing amount. All of these should be related to the magnitude of this earthquake, not very large but not very little. This character of the Lushan earthquake would make some processes uncompleted so as to bring about some concealed geohazards. Finally, in order to deal with challenges presented by such conceal geohazards, some brief recommendations are put forward.

A rapid stability assessment of China's IGS sites after the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake

A rapid and accurate assessment of the stability of surveying and mapping reference points is important for post - disaster rescue, disaster relief and reconstruction activities. Using Precise Point Positioning （PPP） technology, a rapid assessment of the stability of the IGS sites in China was performed after the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake using rapid precise ephemeris and rapid precise satellite clock products. The results show that the earthquake had a very small impact and did not cause significant permanent deformation at the IGS sites. Most of the sites were unaffected and remained stable after the earthquake.

Near-field surface deformation during the April 20,2013,Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake measured by 1-Hz GNSS

The April 20, 2013, Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake was successfully recorded by closely spaced Continuous Global Positioning System （CGPS） stations owned by the Crustal Movement Observation Network of Chi- na （CMONC）. The 1-Hz GNSS data from eight CGPS stations, which are located between 30 km and 200 km from the hypocenter, were processed within quasi-real-time. The near-field surface deformation indicated the following characteristics ： the near-field movements were limited to several centimeters ; the peak of the deformation wave was significantly larger than the static permanent offset; at the beginning of the event, the north wall of the fault moved to the southeast as the south wall moved to the southwest ; station SCTQ, which was the closest station to the hypocenter at 30 km, had the largest static permanent displacement of 2 cm; the peaks of the deformation waves were 1.5 cm, 5 cm and 3 cm, to the east, the south and vertically upward, respectively ; and the peaks of velocity and acceleration, derived from the deformation, were 3.4 cm/s and 5.3 cm/s^2,respectively.

Variations of shear wave splitting in the 2013 Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake region

In this paper, variations of shear wave splitting in the 2013 Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake sequence were studied. By analyzing shear wave particle motion of local events in the shear wave window, the fast polarization directions and the delay time between fast and slow shear waves were derived from seismic recordings at eight stations on the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone. In the study region, the fast polarization directions show partition characteristics from south to north. And the systematic changes of the time delays between two split shear waves were also observed. As for spatial distribution, the NE fast polarization directions are consistent with the Longmenshan fault strike in the south of focal region, whereas the NW fast direction is parallel to the direction of regional principal compressive stress in the north of focal region. Stations BAX and TQU are respectively located on the Central and Front-range faults, and because of the direct influence of these faults, the fast directions at both stations show particularity. In time domain, after the main shock, the delay times at stations increased rapidly, and decreased after a period of time. Shear-wave splitting was caused mostly by stress-aligned microcracks in rock below the stations. The results demonstrate changes of local stress field during the main shock and the aftershocks. The stress on the Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake region increased after the main shock, with the stress release caused by the aftershocks and the stress reduced in the late stage.

Rapid report of June 1,2022 M_(W) 5.9 Lushan earthquake,China with geodetic and teleseismic data

Timely response to earthquake characterization can facilitate earthquake emergency rescue and further scientific investigations.On June 1,2022,M_(W) 5.9 earthquake occurred in the southern area of the Longmenshan fault zone.This event also happened at the south end of the Dayi seismic gap and is the largest earthquake that has occurred in this seismic gap since the 1970 M 6.2 event.The slip-distribution model constrained by the seismic waveforms suggests a thrust-dominated faulting mechanism.The main slip occurs at a depth of~14 km,and the cumulative energy is released in the first 6 s.The variations of Coulomb stress caused by the mainshock show a positive change in the southwest area of the Dayi seismic gap,indicating possible activation of future earthquakes.In addition,we emphasize the importance of rapid estimation of deformation for near-field hazard delineation,especially when interferometric radar fails to image coseismic deformation in a high relief terrain.

Preseismic deformation in the seismogenic zone of the Lushan MS7.0 earthquake detected by GPS observations

A continuous GPS array across the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone recorded the deformation during the process of the Lushan MS7.0 earthquake that occurred on April 20, 2013. Such data can provide meaningful information regarding the dynamic evolution of crustal deformation in the seismogenic zone. Our studies have shown that the occurrence of the Wenchuan earthquake led to the loading of compressive and sinistral shearing strain on the southern segment of the Maoxian-Wenchuan fault, whereby the extrusion strain accumulated at a greater rate than before the Wenchuan earthquake. The strain time series in the seismogenic zone revealed that the principal compression strain rates decreased from west to east in the direction of N30°–45°W. Furthermore, the area to the east of Beichuan-Yingxiu fault behaved as a zone of compressive deformation with obvious sinistral shearing deformation. The surface strain and the first shearing strain time series decreased with time, while the area to the west of the Beichuan-Yingxiu fault behaved as a zone of dextral shear deformation that increased with time. Furthermore, the regional deformation field before the Lushan earthquake showed that the rate of extrusion strain accumulation in the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone was obviously larger than before the Wenchuan earthquake. Moreover, the sinistral shearing strain accumulated in the area of the southern segment of the Maoxian-Wenchuan fault. Based on the above analysis, we consider that the eastward movement of the Bayan Har block increased considerably following the Wenchuan earthquake, which enhanced the accumulation of compression strain in the southern segment of the Longmenshan fault zone.

Shake table tests of suspended ceilings to simulate the observed damage in the M_s 7.0 Lushan earthquake, China

Severe damage to suspended ceilings of metal grids and lay-in panels was observed in public buildings during the 2013 M7.0 Lushan earthquake in China. Over the past several years, suspended ceilings have been widely used practice in public buildings throughout China, including government offices, schools and hospitals. To investigate the damage mechanism of suspended ceilings, a series of three-dimensional shake table tests was conducted to reproduce the observed damage. A full-scale reinforced concrete frame was constructed as the testing frame for the ceiling, which was single-story and infilled with brick masonry walls to represent the local construction of low-rise buildings. In general, the ceiling in the tests exhibited similar damage phenomena as the field observations, such as higher vulnerability of perimeter elements and extensive damage to the cross runners. However, it exhibited lower fragility in terms of peak ground/roof accelerations at the initiation of damage. Further investigations are needed to clarify the reasons for this behavior.

Preliminary investigation of seismic damage to two steel space structures during the 2013 Lushan earthquake

Severe damage to steel space structures is rarely reported when compared to other structural systems damaged during past major earthquakes around the world. Two gymnasiums of steel space structures in downtown Lushan County that were damaged during the 2013 M7.0 Lushan earthquake in China were investigated and the observations are summarized in this paper. Typical damage to these two steel space structures ranges from moderate to severe. Moderate damage includes global buckling and dislocation of bolted connections of truss members, and inelastic elongation of anchor bolts and sliding of pedestal plates of supports. Severe damage includes member fracture caused by local buckling, and fracture failure of anchor bolts and welds. The distribution of structural damage to these two structures is described in detail and future research opportunities are suggested.

Directional seismic response to the complex topography:A case study of 2013 Lushan Ms 7.0 earthquake

Azimuthal variations in site response can provide a good insight into the site amplification and seismic conditions of geohazard occurrences.In this study,multiple directional site response methods,including D-Arias(Directional-Arias),D-SER(Directional-Shaking energy ratio),D-HVSR(Directional-Horizontal to vertical spectral ratio)and D-SSR(Directional–Standard spectral ratio),are adopted to analyse seismic data of the 2013 Lushan Ms 7.0 earthquake captured by the self-established Lengzhuguan(LZG)station which consists of the complex topography of isolated ridge,large mountain and some typical micro-reliefs.The results show that the isolated ridge could cause stronger site responses than the large mountain,and whose pronounced response direction is roughly perpendicular to its ridgeline.With the growth of elevation,the siteresonant frequency decreases.The different microreliefs on the mountain cause different site responses,which present as protruding slope>linear slope.The site response mainly exists on the surficial layer of the mountain and shows that with the increase of the distance to mountain surface,the site response gets weaker,the site resonant frequency gets higher,and the pronounced response direction is perpendicular to its ridgeline.

Characteristics of subsurface density variations before the 4.20 Lushan M_s7.0 earthquake in the Longmenshan area: inversion results

The 4.20 Lushan Ms7.0 earthquake occurred on the southwest segment of the Longmenshan fault on 20 April 2013. Some meaningful information on the prepa- ration and occurrence of this earthquake was found based on the dynamic variation of gravity （DVG）. To examine the great progress of the Lushan earthquake, we obtained the density variation （DENV） derived from the DVG using the compact gravity inversion method in this article. The inversion results reveal three main findings： （1） the DENV in the crust in the Jinshajiang fault area changed from positive in 2010-2011 to negative in 2011-2012. （2） The DENV in the Xianshuihe fault area decreased continuously from 2010 to 2012. （3） The DENV of the uppermost mantle of South China decreased in 2010-2011 and increased in 2011-2012. We propose that the flow/expansion of the middle-lower crust beneath the Bayan Har block and Moho subsidence on the southwest margin of the Chuan-Dian block may have been the major causes of the Lushan earthquake.

A study on the uncertainties of the centroid depth of the 2013 Lushan earthquake from teleseimic body wave data

Centroid depth of earthquakes is essential for seismic hazard mitigation. But, various studies provided different solutions for the centroid depth of the damaging 2013 Lushan earthquake, thus hindering further studies of the earthquake processes. To resolve its centroid depth and assess the uncertainties, we apply the teleseismic cut and paste method to invert for centroid depth with teleseismic body waves in the epicentral distance of 300-90~. We performed the inversion for P waves only as well the case of both P and SH waves and found that both cases lead to depth solutions with difference less than 0.5 km. We also investigated the effects on depth inversion from azimuth gap of seismic stations, source duration, and comer fre- quency of filter. These various tests show that even azi- muthal distribution of seismic stations is helpful for accurate depth inversion. It is also found that estimate of centroid depth is sensitive to source duration. Moreover, the depth is biased to larger values when corner frequency of low-pass filter is very low. The uncertainty in the velocity model can also generate some error in the depth estimation （- 1.0 km）.With all the above factors consid- ered, the centroid depth of Lushan earthquake is proposed to be around 12 km, with uncertainty about 2 km.

Lessons from the seismic behavior of a steel grid roof structure heavily damaged in Lushan earthquake

The seismic behavior of a school gymnasium, whose steel grid roof was heavily damaged during the Mw6.6 Lushan earthquake in 2013, is simulated through nonlinear dynamic analysis. The simulated damage is compared with field observations to validate the numerical model, based on which a parametric study was performed to provide insight into the failure process and damage patterns of steel grids. The results suggest that the grid damage is strongly related to roofsubstructure interactions. These include not only the substructure's amplification of the vibration, but the uncoordinated displacement of the substructure's columns which support the grid also play an equally important role. In particular, the latter effect may significantly alter the internal force distribution in the steel grid and lead to unexpected buckling of members that are proportioned as tension-only members. While such interactions are generally not accounted for in the design practice for grid structures in China, similar seismic damage may be expected for other existing grid roofs in future earthquakes. As is also demonstrated in this study, seismic isolation of the roof is a promising solution to protect grid roof structures by mitigating the detrimental effects of roof-substructure interactions.

Spatial distribution analysis of landslides triggered by the 2013-04-20 Lushan earthquake,China

The 2013-04-20 Lushan earthquake（seismic magnitude Ms 7.0 according to the State Seismological Bureau）induced a large number of landslides.In this study,spatial characteristics of landslides are developed by interpreting digital aerial photography data.Seven towns near the epicenter,with an area of about 11.11 km2,were severely affected by the earthquake,and 703 landslides were identified from April 24,2013 aerial photography data over an area of 1.185 km2.About 55.56% of the landslide area was less than 1000 m2,whereas about 3.23 % was more than 10,000 m2.Rock falls and shallow landslides were the most commonly observed types in the study area,and were primarily located in the center of Lushan County.Most landslide areas were widely distributed near river channels and along roads.Five main factors were chosen to study the distribution characteristics of landslides：elevation,slope gradients,fault,geologic unit and river system.The spatial distribution of coseismal landslides is studied statistically using both landslide point density（LPD）,defined as the number of landslides（LS Number）per square kilometer,and landslide area density（LAD）,interpreted as the percentage of landslides area affected by earthquake.The results show that both LPD and LAD have strong positive correlations with five main factors.Most landslides occurred in the gradient range of 40°-50° and an elevation range of 1.0-1.5 km above sea level.Statistical results also indicate that landslides were mainly formed in soft rocks such as mudstone and sandstone,and concentrated in IX intensity areas.

Strong motion characteristics of the M_w 6.6 Lushan earthquake,Sichuan,China——an insight into the spatial difference of a typical thrust fault earthquake

Near-field strong ground motions are useful for engineering seismology studies and seismic design, but dense observation networks of damaging earthquakes are still rare. In this study, based on the strong-motion data from the M w 6.6 Lushan earthquake, the ground motion parameters in different spatial regions are systematically analyzed, and the contributions from different effects, like the hanging-wall effect, directivity effect, and attenuation effect are separated to the extent possible. Different engineering parameters from the observed ground motions are compared with the local design response spectra and a new attenuation relation of Western China. General results indicate that the high frequency ground motion, like the peak ground acceleration, on two sides of the fault plane is sensitive to the hanging-wall effect, whereas the low frequency ground motion, like the long period spectral acceleration, in the rupture propagation direction is affected by the directivity effect. Moreover, although the M w 6.6 Lushan earthquake is not a large magnitude event, the spatial difference of ground motion is still obvious; thus, for a thrust faulting earthquake, in addition to the hanging effect, the directivity effect should also be considered.

Source rupture process inversion of the 2013 Lushan earthquake,China

The spatial and temporal slip distribution of the Lushan earthquake was estimated using teleseismic body wave data. To perform a stable inversion, we applied smoothing constraints and determined their optimal relative weights on the observed data using an optimized Akaike＇ s Bayesian Information Criterion （ABIC）. The inversion generated the source parameters. Strike, dip and slip were 218°, 39° and 100. 8° ,respectively. A seismic moment （M0） was 2. 1 × 10^20 Nm with a moment magnitude （Mw） of 6. 8, and a source duration was approximately 30 second. The rupture propagated along the dip direction, and the maximum slip occurred at the hypocenter. The maximum slip was approximately 2. 1 m, although this earthquake did not cause an apparent surface rupture. The energy was mainly released within 10 second. In addition, the Lushan earthquake was apparently related to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. However, the question of whether it was an aftershock of the Wenchuan earthquake requires further study.

New characteristics of intensity assessment of Sichuan Lushan “4.20” M_s7.0 earthquake

The post-earthquake rapid accurate assessment of macro influence of seismic ground motion is of significance for earthquake emergency relief,post-earthquake reconstruction and scientific research. The seismic intensity distribution map released by the Lushan earthquake field team of the China Earthquake Administration(CEA) five days after the strong earthquake(M7.0) occurred in Lushan County of Sichuan Ya’an City at 8:02 on April 20,2013 provides a scientific basis for emergency relief,economic loss assessment and post-earthquake reconstruction. In this paper,the means for blind estimation of macroscopic intensity,field estimation of macro intensity,and review of intensity,as well as corresponding problems are discussed in detail,and the intensity distribution characteristics of the Lushan '4.20' M7.0 earthquake and its influential factors are analyzed,providing a reference for future seismic intensity assessments.

Deep Seismogenic Environment in the Southern Section of the Longmenshan Fault Zone on the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau and Lushan M_s 7.0 Earthquake

The 2,026 earthquake events registered by the Sichuan regional digital seismic network and mobile seismic array after the April 20th, 2013 Lushan earthquake and 28,188 pieces of data were selected to determine direct P waves arrival times. We applied the tomographic method to inverse the characteristics of the velocity structure for the three-dimensional （3D） P wave in the mid-upper crust of the seismic source region of the Lushan earthquake. The imaging results were combined with the apparent magnetization inversion and magnetotelluric （MT） sounding retest data to comprehensively study the causes of the deep seismogenic environment in the southern section of the Longmenshan fault zone and explore the formation of the Lushan earthquake. Research has shown that there are obvious differences in velocity structure and magnetic distribution between the southern and northern sections of the Longmenshan fault zone. The epicenter of the Lushan earthquake is located near the boundary of the high and low-velocity anomalies and favorable for a high-velocity section. Moreover, at the epicenter of the Lushan earthquake located on the magnetic dome boundary of Ya＇an, the development of high velocity and magnetic solid medium favors the accumulation and release of strain energy. Low- velocity anomalies are distributed underneath the are of seismogenic origin, The inversion results of the MT retest data after the April 20th Lushan earthquake also indicate that there a high-conductor anomaly occurs under the area of seismogenic origin of the Lushan earthquake, Therefore, we speculated that the presence of a high-conductivity anomaly and low-velocity anomaly underneath the seismogenic body of the Lushan earthquake could be related to the existence of fluids. The role of fluids caused the weakening of the seismogenic layer inside the mid-upper crust and resulted in a seismogenic fault that was prone to rupture and pIayed a triggering role in the Lushan earthquake.

Abnormal strain changes observed by a borehole strainmeter at Guza Station before the Ms7. 0 Lushan earthquake

Several days before the MsT. 0 Lushan earthquake, the YRY-4 borehole Strainmeter at Guza Station recorded prominent abnormal changes. The strain anomalies are very striking on the smooth background of several years＇ recording after the Wenchuan earthquake. However, because construction in the town of Guza has been undergoing rapid development in recent years, many factors have interfered with observations at the station. Whether or not the observed strain changes before the Lushan earthquake were affected by any of the sources of interference becomes a question that must be answered. Among the likely sources of interference, apartment construction, sportsground reconstruction, and tunnel cutting can be excluded by analyzing the morphological characteristic of the anomalies. The two remaining most possible sources are road construction in front of the station and the water level change of the nearby Dadu River caused by water filling into and discharging from an upstream reservoir. Through field investigation, comparison of the correlation between the strain and the seismographic recordings, comparison of the correlation between the strain and the Dadu River flow recordings, and analysis of the strain anomaly characteristics, we conclude that the abnormal changes observed at Guza Station cannot be attributed to either of these two sources but should be related to the Lushan earthquake.

Detection of a half-microgal coseismic gravity change after the Ms7. 0 Lushan earthquake

Because only a small near-field coseismie gravity change signal remains after removal of noise from the accuracy of observations and the time and spatial resolution of the earth＇s surface gravity observation system, it is difficult to verify simulations of dislocation theory. In this study, it is shown that the GS15 gravimeter, located 99.5 km from the epicenter of the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake on April 20, 2013 at 08 ： 04 UTC ＋ 8, showed the influence of the earthquake from 2013-04-16 to 2013-04-26 after a time calibration, tide correc- tions, drift correction, period correction and relaxation correction were applied to its data. The post-seismic relaxation process of the spring in the gravimeter took approximately 430 minutes and showed a 2. 5 ×10^-8 ms^-2 gravity change. After correcting for the relaxation process, it is shown that a coseismic gravity change of approximately ＋0.59 ＋-0. 4 ~ 10-Sms-2 was observed by the GS15 gravimeter; this agrees with the simulated gravity change of approximately 0.31 ~ 10 -8 ms-2. The rate of the coseismie gravity change and the coseismic vertical displacement, as measured by one-second and one-day sampling interval GPS units, is also consistent with the theoretical rate of change. Therefore, the GS15 gravimeter at the Pixian Station observed a coseismic gravity change after the Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake. This and similar measurements could be applied to test and confirm the theory used for these simulations.

Upper crustal anisotropy observed around the Longmenshan fault in the 2013 M_S7.0 Lushan earthquake region

Based on the shear wave splitting analysis of the seismic recordings at 17 temporary stations and three permanent stations, we measured the shear wave splitting parameters(i.e., the polarization direction of fast shear wave and the time delay of slow wave) to perform a systematic analysis of the crustal seismic anisotropy around the Longmenshan fault in the 2013 M7.0 Lushan earthquake region. We observed apparent spatio-temporal characteristics in the shear wave splitting parameters. The spatial distribution of fast polarization directions showed a clear partitioning in the characteristics from northwest to southeast in the focal region,which changed from NW-SE to NE-SW. In the northwest of the focal region, the fast polarization direction was oriented to NW-SE, which was parallel to the maximum horizontal compressive stress direction. However, the NE-SW fast polarization direction in the southeast of the focal region was parallel to the Longmenshan fault strike. For station BAX on the Central fault in the middle of the focal region, the distribution of fast polarization directions showed a bimodal pattern, with one dominant in the NE-SW direction and the other in the NW-SE direction. With regard to the temporal variation, the time delays were large in the initial stage after the mainshock but then gradually decreased over time and tended to be stable in the later period. This indicated that stress in the focal region increased to a maximum when the main shock occurred, with the stress release caused by the mainshock and aftershock activity, and the stress gradually decreased after a period of time. The scatter of fast polarization directions was large after the main shock, but over time the scatter gradually decreased, indicating that the Lushan earthquake caused a large perturbation in the local stress field. As the stress gradually decreased and was adjusted by the aftershock activity, the perturbation gradually weakened.