Geological Features of Landslides Caused by the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in Japan
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Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 Geological features of landslides caused by the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake in Japan Yoshihiko Ito*, Shusaku Yamazaki and Toshiyuki Kurahashi HOKUDEN Integrated Consulting Service Co. Inc., 1-1 Higashi 3-chome, Kita 1-Jyo, Chuo-Ku, Sapporo-City, 060-0031, Japan YI, 0000-0002-0818-8103 *Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Before dawn on 6 September 2018, a powerful earthquake with a Japan Meteorological Agency magnitude (Mj) of 6.7 hit central Hokkaido, causing more than 6000 landslides. As human damage, 36 of the 44 fatalities from the earthquake were from earthslides in Atsuma Town. Most slope movements were shal- low earthslides of mantle-bedded tephra and soil layers, but some were deep rockslides involving basement rocks such as shale and mudstone of Miocene. Although the shallow earthslides were easily distinguishable in photos from satellites or airplane, the rockslides were more difficult to identify owing to their vegetation. Based on the quick interpretation of a high-resolution (0.5 m horizontal resolution) shaded relief map made from digital elevation model data by airborne laser survey and supplemental field surveys, we effectively iden- tified 259 rockslides (196 certain ones and 63 possible ones) in Atsuma and Mukawa towns under newly invented identification criteria based on the scarp depth and positional relation between scarp and ridge topog- raphy. It was revealed that most rockslides were distributed within 10 km from the epicentre, while earthslides were distributed until 20 km north of the epicentre, and they seemed to be controlled by the thickness of mantle- bedded tephra and the soil layer. We also identified many traces of past rockslides and earthslides. The results show the possibilities for effective measurement of slope by clarifying the landslide distribution both this earth- quake and past ones using high-resolution digital elevation model data. At 03:07:59.3 JST (18:07:59.3 UTC) on 6 Septem- a complete power outage from the sudden stoppage ber 2018 (18:07:59.3 UTC on 5 September), a pow- of a major thermal power plant, Tomatou-Atsuma, erful earthquake hit the Eastern Iburi district of south of the epicentre. Ground liquefaction caused Hokkaido Island in Northern Japan. The earthquake the destruction and tilting of many houses in several was named the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earth- embanked areas in Sapporo City. Notably, the earth- quake by Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). quake caused more than 6000 landslides in hilly The JMA magnitude (Mj) was 6.7 and the moment areas of Atsuma, Abira and Mukawa towns (Kita magnitude (Mw) was 6.6, and the epicentre was 2018; GSI Japan 2018; Yamagishi and Yamazaki 42.690° N by 142.006° E (Fig. 1b). The epicentre 2018; Figs 2 and 3) and 36 people died as a result was about 65 km SE of Sapporo City and the hypo- of shallow earthslides in Atsuma Town. A notably centre was at a depth of 37 km. A maximum seismic large rockslide intercepted the Hidaka–Horonai intensity of 7 by the JMA seismic intensity scale River in Atsuma Town and caused a lake to form and 9.5 by the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) upstream of the blockage. The total economic dam- of the US Geological Society (USGS) was recorded age caused by the earthquake is estimated at about in Atsuma Town (Fig. 1b; USGS 2018). The maxi- 162 billion yen (about US$1.48 billion). mum acceleration was 1796 gal on HKD127 of The landslides caused by the Hokkaido Eastern K-NET at Oiwake in Abira Town. The SE district Iburi Earthquake seem to be less well understood of Sapporo City experienced seismic intensity because of the large number of them and the difficul- lower than 6 by JMA and 6.7 by MMI (Fig. 1b). ties of the field approach. Although rapid and wide- The outline of the earthquake is shown in Table 1 spread surveys using satellites and aerial surveys along with that of the 2011 Great East Japan are effective for understanding landslides caused Earthquake. Forty-four people died (including by earthquake, the methods for the detection and earthquake-related deaths) and 785 people were prediction of their localities have not yet been estab- injured. A cumulative total of 16 649 refugees lished. In this study, in order to clarify size, slide spent time at 768 evacuation centres. Other impor- mechanism, total number and distribution of the tant public facilities such as roads and waterworks earthquake-induced landslides, we carried out topo- were also heavily damaged. In particular, all of graphic analysis of landslides using high-resolution Hokkaido Island (2.95 million houses) experienced aerial laser survey data and field survey after the From: Dilek, Y., Ogawa, Y. and Okubo, Y. (eds) Characterization of Modern and Historical Seismic–Tsunamic Events, and Their Global–Societal Impacts. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 501, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP501-2019-122 © 2020 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by The Geological Society of London. Publishing disclaimer: www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 Y. Ito et al. (a) (b) (d) (c) Fig. 1. (a) Location of studied area plate boundaries on the Digital Map of GSI Japan, and (b) JMA seismic intensity map (Japan Meteorological Agency 2018) as background colour with the MMI contours by the USGS (2018) and with the epicentre of the associated earthquake by the JMA (2018) of the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake. (c) Geological map around the epicentre, modified after the Preparation Committee for Data Report of Engineering Geology in Hokkaido (2017) with the surveyed area, dotted line, of high-resolution (0.5 m) DEM by Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau, and (d) simplified schematic cross-section along the A–B line in (c) modified after Kawakami and Kawamura (2003). Fault depth, dip and dimensions are from GSI Japan (2018). 2018 earthquake. Our result will contribute to under- are foreland basins fill deposits formed by a colli- standing the whole picture of the landslide disaster sional event between the Northeast Japan Arc and around the epicenter and also future mitigations of Kuril Arc (Fig. 1c, d; Kawakami and Kawamura slope disaster by earthquake, as a case study of the 2003; Kase et al. 2018). Several synclines, anticlines high-resolution topographic analysis. and faults oriented NW by SE are associated with westward motion of the Kuril fore-arc sliver by obli- que subduction of the Pacific Plate (Kimura 1986; Geological setting Kawakami and Kawamura 2003). As a front of this collisional tectonics, a zone of active faults, The basement rock around the epicentre mainly con- Ishikari-Teichi-Toen Fault Zone, is placed between sists of Neogene sedimentary rocks that are con- Ishikari flatland and hilly and mountainous areas of glomerate, sandstone and mudstone of the Fureoi Atsuma and Abira towns (Fig. 1b; AIST and HRO Formation of Middle to Late Miocene, sandstone, 2018). These basement rocks are widely covered hard shale and mudstone of the Karumai Formation with tephra and soil from 1 to 3 m in thickness of Late Miocene, and conglomerate, sandstone, (Fig. 4c; Uda et al. 1979; Hirose et al. 2018). In hard shale and siltstone of the Moebetsu (Nina) For- ascending order, pumice layers are Spfa-1 (34– mation of Late Miocene to Early Pliocene (Fig. 1c; 31 ka; Machida and Arai 2003) from the Shikotsu Matsuno and Ishida 1960; Kase et al. 2018). These caldera, En-a (17–15 ka; Machida and Arai 2003) Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 30, 2021 Landslide disaster by a 2018 earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan Table 1. Outline of the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi Earthquake compared with that of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake 2011 Great East Japan earthquake 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake Earthquake type Interplate earthquake Intraplate earthquake Date 11 March 2011 6 September 2018 Magnitude 9.0 6.7 Depth (km) 16 37 Maximum intensity by 7/IX (MMI 8.8 at MYG006)* 7/X (9.5 at HKD126)* JMA/MMI scale Area of MMI .7 153 110 km2* 2472 km2* Maximum acceralation 2700 gal (at MYG004)† 1796 gal (HKD127: Oiwake)† Dead and missing 19 868‡ 44§ Injured 6230 785§ Completely destroyed 128 530‡ 479§ houses Main factor of disaster Tsunami: .90% of deaths were Slope failure: .80% of deaths (36 people) by drowning were by slope failure Economic damage c. US$142–222 billion (16–25 US$1.48 billion (162 billion yen)§ trillion yen)‡ Remarks Nuclear power plant was heavily Thermal power plant was damaged (power damaged by tsunami outage of 2.95 million houses)§ *USGS Earthquake Hazards Program. †K-NET by NIDO. ‡Kazama and Noda (2012). §Crisis Management Division of Hokkaido Prefecture (2019). from the Eniwa Volcano, and Ta-d (8.7–9.2 ka), Landslide classification and mechanism Ta-c (2.5 ka), Ta-b (1667 AD) and Ta-a (1739 AD) from the Tarumae Volcano (Furukawa and Naka- Varnes (1978) classified slope movements in gawa 2010), located 40–70 km west of the area. terms of materials and movement characteristics, These tephra layers are intercalated with soil and the ‘slide’ category is subdivided into three sub- (Fig. 4c). Around Atsuma Town, north of the categories of rockslide, debris slide and earthslide by epicentre, most of the landslides were classified material. This study also follows these categories for as earthslides of thin, unconsolidated tephra and the classification of landslides.