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Experimental investigation of a catastrophic landslide in northern Pakistan

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Abstract

The territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is vulnerable to different natural hazards because of its proximity to a geo-dynamically active zone and its tropical and monsoonal climatic pattern. Both factors operate in various combinations and result in the occurrence of disasters generated by natural hazards like floods, earthquakes, and landslides at different intervals. There are numerous landslides in the study area, out of which the Donga Kass landslide has been selected for study due to its ongoing activity which poses a significant risk to the nearby community and infrastructure. Therefore, assessment of two possible triggering factors (i.e., earthquake and rainfall) for this landslide was conducted through the laboratory testing using the DPRI-5 Ring shear simulator. Undrained cyclic loading tests were performed to simulate the dynamic loading and earthquake-induced landslides, while pore pressure control tests simulated the rise of groundwater level during rainfall for rainfall-induced landslides. Based on the laboratory test results, a critical seismic acceleration and a critical pore pressure ratio are suggested for Donga Kass landslide. Using these values and combining with rainfall data and monitored pore water pressure in bore holes, early warning system can be activated to reduce any potential landslide risk in the future.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the assistance of our colleagues at Prof. Takara’s Laboratory especially Mr. Hendy Setiawan, Ms. Sono Inoue and Ms. Kaori Saidera. The first author gratefully acknowledges the valuable review and comments by Prof. James Goltz, a Visiting Professor in DPRI, who proofread the paper. We thank the anonymous reviewers whose comments have greatly improved this manuscript. The first author deeply appreciates the cooperation of all the members of the Planning and Development Department and the Central Design Office of Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir for providing valuable data and information for our field visit. The author would like to express her heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Muhammad Shehzad Khalid, a PhD Student at Kyoto University for his assistance during site investigation and sampling from the landslide. Special thanks to Khawaja Shoaib Ahmad, an M.Phil. student at the Institute of Geology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir for preparing geological cross sections of the landslide.

Funding

The financial support for this project was provided by the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) of Kyoto University, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Saima Riaz, Gonghui Wang & Kaoru Takara

  2. Institute of Geology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan

    Muhammad Basharat

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  1. Saima Riaz
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  2. Gonghui Wang
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  3. Muhammad Basharat
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  4. Kaoru Takara
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Correspondence to Saima Riaz.

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Riaz, S., Wang, G., Basharat, M. et al. Experimental investigation of a catastrophic landslide in northern Pakistan. Landslides 16, 2017–2032 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-019-01216-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-019-01216-5

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