Historical and Prehistoric Earthquake-Induced Landslides in Japan

Abstract

Japanese historical documents mentioning natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides in the Japanese islands date from as early as the 5th century. Our subcommittee reviewed a large number of these historical documents and extracted information on the topographical and geological features of earthquake-induced landslides. The resulting database includes 130 landslide-events that occurred from the late prehistoric period to the 20th century. The subcommittee statistically analyzed those landslides and found that the landslide-slope gradient mode is between 30 and 35°, that 61 % of the landslides have gradients between 25 and 40°, and that almost all occurred in and around the larger landslide topography which is identified by air-photo interpretation. Landslides consisting of convex ridge and/or convex plain, which together account for about 30 %, are the most characteristic of earthquake-induced landslides. About half of the listed landslides formed a landslide dam, suggesting either that earthquake-induced landslides frequently create landslide dams, or that those that create landslide dams have been recorded because of their causative role in disasters during the historical era.

Activities in WG 6 of JLS-ELRP

Members of the subcommittee for Historical Earthquake Landslide Studies in Earthquake-induced Landslide Program, Japan Landslide Society (JLS-ELRP) are included in the appendix.

Appendix

Members of the subcommittee for Historical Earthquake Landslide Studies in Earthquake-induced Landslide Program, Japan Landslide Society (JLS-ELRP) are as follows:

• Takashi, Inokuchi (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention)

• Kimio, Inoue (Sabo Frontier Foundation)

• Taku Komatsubara^*(Geological Survey of Japan)

• Shinro Abe (Okuyama Boring Co., Ltd.)

• Takamasa Imamura (Geographical Survey and Photography Co., Ltd.)

• Noriya Kamihara (Eight Japan Consultants Inc.)

• Satoshi Kojima (Gifu University)

• Masaaki Sakurai (Forest Conservation Research Institute Co., Ltd.)

• Yoji Sawa (Asia Air Survey Co., Ltd.)

• JingCai Jiang (Tokushima University)

• Jun Tajika (Geological Survey of Hokkaido)

• Hidehisa Nagata (Fu Sui Do Co., Ltd.)

• Hiroomi Nakazato (National Institute for Rural Engineering)

• Yoichi Hasegawa (Japan Conservation Engineers & Co., Ltd.)

• Tamotsu Nozaki (Nozaki EG Consulting)

• Takahiko Furuya (Prpfessor Emeitus of Chiba University and Senior Adoviser of Nissaku Co., Ltd.)

• Shoji Doshida (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention)

• Hinako Suzuki (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention)

^*Corresponding author.