Earthquake Research Advances最新文献

Natural loess slopes are characterized by a strong geological structure, which is an important factor in maintaining slope stability. The magnitude and duration of the earthquake may disturb the soil structure at different levels degrees, locally changing the arrangement between soil particles. The process of rainfall humidification weakens the cementation between soil particles, and the disturbance and humidification change the structural state of the soil, which in turn causes sliding of the slope along with the decay of soil mechanical properties. As slope instability is often the result of a series of post-earthquake ripple effects, it is of great scientific significance to study the mechanism of slope instability due to the structural decay of earthquake-damaged loess exacerbated by rainfall. In this paper, the impact of structural decay of loess on slope stability is simulated by GEOSTUDIO software under three conditions: pre-earthquake rainfall, post-earthquake rainfall and earthquake, taking the landslide in Buzi Village, Min County, Gansu Province as an example. The comparative analysis of the calculation results shows that the structural properties of the slope without earthquake disturbance are influenced by infiltration amount. When it is fully saturated, the structural properties are similar to those of saturated soil, and the safety factor is reduced by 12.9%. In addition, the earthquake intensity and duration have different degrees of structural damage to the soil. When the structure is fully damaged, it is similar to that of remodelled soil, and the safety factor is reduced by 45.84%. Notably, the process of the earthquake and the following humidification generates the most serious damage to the loess structure, with a reduction in the safety factor of up to 56.15%. The quantitative analysis above obviously illustrates that the post-earthquake rainfall causes the most severe damage to structural loess slopes, and the resulting landslide hazard should not be underestimated.

The dynamic characteristics of compacted loess are of great significance to the seismic construction of the Loess Plateau area in Northwest China, where earthquakes frequently occur. To study the change in the dynamic modulus of the foundation soil under the combined action of vertical and horizontal earthquakes, a hollow cylindrical torsion shear instrument capable of vibrating in four directions was used to perform two-way coupling of compression and torsion of Xi'an compacted loess under different dry density and deviator stress ratios. The results show that increasing the dry density can improve the initial dynamic compression modulus and initial dynamic shear modulus of compacted loess. With an increase in the deviator stress ratio, the initial dynamic compression modulus increases, to a certain extent, but the initial dynamic shear modulus decreases slightly. The dynamic modulus gradually decreases with the development of dynamic strain and tends to be stable, and the dynamic modulus that reaches the same strain increases with an increasing dry density. At the initial stage of dynamic loading, the attenuation of the dynamic shear modulus with the strain development is faster than that of the dynamic compression modulus. Compared with previous research results, it is determined that the dynamic modulus of loess under bidirectional dynamic loading is lower and the attenuation rate is faster than that under single-direction dynamic loading. The deviator stress ratio has a more obvious effect on the dynamic compression modulus. The increase in the deviator stress ratio can increase the dynamic compression modulus, to a certain extent. However, the deviator stress ratio has almost no effect on the dynamic shear modulus, and can therefore be ignored.

To clarify the changes in slope stability of loess slopes under the coupling action of rainfall and vehicle loads. Experiments with different water contents under different environmental conditions were carried out indoors, and the relationship function between water content and shear strength parameters was obtained; Secondly, based on Geostudio, an equivalent layered calculation model of water content-strength parameters of loess slope was established, the variation law of soil sample matrix suction with volumetric water content was measured by volumetric pressure plate tester. Finally, by using a combination of finite element analysis of saturated/unsaturated seepage and limit equilibrium analysis of slope stability, the SLOPE/W module in the modeling software GeoStudio is used to calculate and analyze the effects of vehicle loads, rainfall intensity, rainfall duration, and other working conditions on the stability of loess slopes, respectively. The results show that when the lane is in the middle of the slope, the vehicle load parameters have little effect on the uphill stability, but have a greater impact on the downhill; With the increase in rainfall, the change curves of the slope safety coefficient gradually overlap when the vehicle loads are four-axis,five-axis, and six-axis. This shows that when studying the change of slope safety factor under the dual influence of vehicle loads and rainfall, rainfall is the main cause of slope stability; The change rate of slope safety factor increases gradually with the increase of rainfall, and the change trends of the upper, lower and overall parts of the slope are similar.

The 22 May 2021 M_W 7.4 Madoi, Qinghai, China earthquake presented a rare opportunity to apply the modern unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photography method in extreme altitude and weather conditions to image surface ruptures and near-field effects of earthquake-related surface deformations in the remote Tibet. High-resolution aerial photographs were acquired in the days immediately following the mainshock. The complex surface rupture patterns associated with this event were covered comprehensively at 3–6 cm resolution. This effort represents the first time that an earthquake rupture in the interior of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau has been fully and systematically captured by such high-resolution imagery, with an unprecedented level of detail, over its entire length. The dataset has proven valuable in documenting subtle and transient rupture features, such as the significant mole-tracks and opening fissures, which were ubiquitous coseismically but degraded during the subsequent summer storm season. Such high-quality imagery also helps to document with high fidelity the fractures of the surface rupture zone (supplements of this paper), the pattern related to how the faults ruptured to the ground surface, and the distribution of off-fault damage. In combination with other ground-based mapping efforts, the data will be analyzed in the following months to better understand the mechanics of earthquake rupture related to the fault zone rheology, rupture dynamics, and frictional properties along with the fault interface.

A rapidly deployable dense seismic monitoring system which is capable of transmitting acquired data in real time and analyzing data automatically is crucial in seismic hazard mitigation after a major earthquake. However, it is rather difficult for current seismic nodal stations to transmit data in real time for an extended period of time, and it usually takes a great amount of time to process the acquired data manually. To monitor earthquakes in real time flexibly, we develop a mobile integrated seismic monitoring system consisting of newly developed nodal units with 4G telemetry and a real-time AI-assisted automatic data processing workflow. The integrated system is convenient for deployment and has been successfully applied in monitoring the aftershocks of the Yangbi M_S 6.4 earthquake occurred on May 21, 2021 in Yangbi County, Dali City, Yunnan in southwest China. The acquired seismic data are transmitted almost in real time through the 4G cellular network, and then processed automatically for event detection, positioning, magnitude calculation and source mechanism inversion. From tens of seconds to a couple of minutes at most, the final seismic attributes can be presented remotely to the end users through the integrated system. From May 27 to June 17, the real-time system has detected and located 7 905 aftershocks in the Yangbi area before the internal batteries exhausted, far more than the catalog provided by China Earthquake Networks Center using the regional permanent stations. The initial application of this integrated real-time monitoring system is promising, and we anticipate the advent of a new era for Real-time Intelligent Array Seismology (RIAS), for better monitoring and understanding the subsurface dynamic processes caused by Earth's internal forces as well as anthropogenic activities.

An M_S 6.4 earthquake occurred in Yangbi, Yunnan province, on May 21, 2021. According to related investigations, the macro-epicenter of the earthquake is 6 km northwest of Yangbi County, and the seismogenic structure is the NW-trending Weixi-Qiaohou fault. The earthquake area is located in the hinterland of the Hengduan Mountains in the northwest of Yunnan province, a region dominated by high and medium-high mountains, with deep canyons and tectonic basins in between. Various geomorphic features are derived from drastic topographic changes and huge geological differences in the earthquake area. There are a variety of buildings in the earthquake-affected zone, including civil and brick-wood structures ones with weak seismic performance, as well as brick-concrete and frame ones with better seismic performance. This paper summarizes and analyzes different characteristics of the earthquake in different geomorphic units through field investigations of different buildings and geological disasters in the affected area. The results show that under the same earthquake intensity, the damage to most buildings (located in slope areas or rooted in weak strata) is amplified by the earthquake. The earthquake has exerted an obvious propagation effect along the direction of the seismogenic structure. Moreover, local ground fissures will aggravate the damage to the buildings even without surface dislocation. Thus, we suggest that attention should be paid to the ground fissures caused by the slope effect. The fissure areas may also be the disaster spot of collapses and landslides in case of a high-magnitude earthquake.

At 02:04 on May 22, 2021, an M_S 7.4 earthquake occurred in Madoi County in Qinghai Province, China. This earthquake is the largest seismic event in China since the 2008 M_S 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake. Thus, it is critical to investigate surface deformation and damage in time to accurately understand the seismogenic structure of the Madoi earthquake and the seismogenic capacity of the blocks in this region. This study focuses on the Xuema Village, located at the eastern end of the coseismic surface ruptures produced by the event, and assesses the deformation and seismic damage in this area based on field surveys, UAV photogrammetry, and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The results indicate that the rupture scale is substantially smaller at the eastern end of the rupture zone compared to other segments. En echelon type shear tensile fractures are concentrated in a width range of 50–100 m, and the width of single fractures ranges from 20 to 30 cm. In contrast, the degree of seismic damage significantly increases at this site. All of the brick and timber houses are damaged or collapsed, while the steel frame structures and the color steel houses are slightly damaged. More than 80% of the bridge decks on the Changma River Bridge collapse, similar to the terraces along the Youerqu and Changma Rivers and the cut slopes of Provincial Highway S205. We infer that the seismogenic fault of the Madoi earthquake exerts a tail effect in this segment. The tension zone has led to a reduction at the eastern end of the rupture zone, causing shaking damage. Local topography and buildings without earthquake-resistant construction along the strike of the rupture zone have undergone different levels of seismic damage.

On May 22, 2021, the M_S 7.4 earthquake occurred in Madoi County, Qinghai Province; it was another strong event that occurred within the Bayan Har block after the Dari M_S 7.7 earthquake in 1947. An earthquake is bound to cast stress to the surrounding faults, thus affecting the regional seismic hazard. To understand these issues, a three-dimensional viscoelastic finite element model of the eastern Bayan Har block and its adjacent areas was constructed. Based on the co-seismic rupture model of the Madoi earthquake, we analyzed the co- and post-seismic Coulomb stress change caused by the Madoi earthquake on the surrounding major faults. The results show that the Madoi earthquake caused significant co-seismic stress increases in the Tuosuo Lake and Maqin-Maqu segments of the East Kunlun fault (>10 ​kPa), which exceeded the proposed threshold of stress triggering. By integrating the accumulation rate of the inter-seismic tectonic stress, we conclude that the Madoi earthquake caused future strong earthquakes in the Tuosuo Lake and Maqin-Maqu segments of the East Kunlun fault to advance by 55.6-623 and 24.7-123 ​a, respectively. Combined with the influence of the Madoi earthquake and the elapsed time of the last strong earthquake, these two segments have approached or even exceeded the recurrence interval of the fault prescribed by previous research. In the future, it is necessary to focus greater attention on the seismic hazard of the Maqin-Maqu and Tuosuo Lake segments. This study provides a mechanical reference to understand the seismic hazard of the East Kunlun fault in the future, particularly to determine the seismic potential region.

Using the Cut And Paste (CAP) method, we invert the focal mechanism of 38 moderate earthquakes (M_S ≥ 3.0) recorded by Yunnan seismic network and analyze the corresponding focal mechanism consistency based on the minimum spatial rotation angle. Our results indicate that the M_S 6.4 mainshock is induced by a lateral strike slip fault (with a rake angle of ∼ −165°) and a little normal-faulting component event along a nearly vertical plane (dipping angle∼ 79° and strike ∼138°). Combining our results with high resolution catalog, we argue that the seismogenic fault of this earthquake sequence is a secondary fault western to the major Weixi-Qiaohou-Weishan fault. The focal mechanism evolution can be divided into three periods. During the first period, the foreshock sequence, the focal mechanism consistency is the highest (KA<36°); during the second period which is shortly after the mainshock, the focal mechanism shows strong variation with KA ranging from 8° to 110°; during the third period, the seismicity becomes weak and the focal mechanism of the earthquakes becomes more consistent than the second period (18°<KA<73°). We suggest that the KA, to some extent, represents the coherence between local tectonic stress regime and the stress state of each individual earthquake. Furthermore, high focal mechanism consistency and high linearity of seismic distribution may serve as indicators for the identification of foreshock sequence.