Earthquake Events

Earthquakes can be major sources of mass movement or landsliding. Large seismic events can generate as many as 15,000 landslides, largely confined to the area of intense shaking, perhaps MM intensity VI and above. Some landslides can be extremely large; however, few types of mass movement are largely or exclusively set in motion by earthquakes. Liquefaction, block glides, and lateral spreads, involving plastic-fluid movements at very low angles, are characteristic of seismic effects. Most other movements, from mudflows to slumps, may be activated or reactivated by earthquakes but can equally occur in the absence of seismicity, albeit seldom in such ...