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Geomorphological and geotechnical analysis of landslides induced by the

Maule earthquake 2010 in the Arauco Peninsula, Chile

Conference Paper · November 2015

DOI: 10.3233/978-1-61499-603-3-3027

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From Fundamentals to Applications in Geotechnics 3027
D. Manzanal and A.O. Sfriso (Eds.)
IOS Press, 2015
© 2015 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.
doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-603-3-3027

Geomorphological and geotechnical

analysis of landslides induced by the Maule
earthquake 2010 in the Arauco Peninsula,
Chile
Sebastian Moyaa , Sergio A. Sepúlvedaa, Alejandra Sereya, Gonzalo Montalvab, Freddy
Yugsid, Paulo Orósteguic , Manuel Garcíaa, José Quirozb, César Pasténb
a
Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Chile
b
Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Concepción
c
OITEC Ltda., Concepción
d
Norwegian Geological Survey,NGU

Abstract. Landslides caused by earthquakes have been extensively studied in

different parts of the world, in different geodynamic settings. In our case, the
February 27, 2010, an Mw 8.8 megathrust earthquake severely hits the coasts of
south-central Chile, with a rupture zone of more than 450 km. long producing
landslides along the coastal range and coastal plains between the cities of
Valparaiso and Valdivia. The area most affected by landslides was the Arauco
Peninsula. An inventory of the events based on satellite images and field work was
performed. 126 landslides were inventoried/detected, including rock slides, soil
slides, rockfalls and rock avalanches. The landslides are concentrated near the
towns of Punta Lavapie and Tubul in soft sedimentary units, with mainly
sandstones and limestones, suggesting a lithologic control. In the field campaigns
two major rock slides were selected to perform a reconstruction of the slopes and
stability analysis to determine which factors led to failure. Ongoing laboratory
tests and topographic models from photogrammetry and laser scanning techniques
are carried out in order to obtain geotechnical and geometrical parameters for
numerical modelling.

Keywords. Landslide, earthquake, Arauco

1. Introduction

On 27/02/2010 a Mw 8.8 earthquake hit central southern Chile with the epicenter at
36°17’S 73°14’W and depth of ca. 30 km according to the National Seismological
Center. The earthquake took place along the subduction zone of the Nazca plate
beneath the South American plate, with a convergence rate of ca. 6.6 cm/y [1]. The
rupture area was extended ca.450 along the Chilean coast and 160 km from east to west
[2], generating a wide area susceptible to the generation of landslides. Studies realized
in 2004 [8] shows that an earthquake of this magnitude would suggest an expected
number of landslides around 50,000. However, field checks after the earthquake
3028 S. Moya et al. / Geomorphological and Geotechnical Analysis of Landslides

noticed that the landslides were much less than expected. 35 accelerographs took
measurements that night, recording the highest PGA in Angol (Araucanía region), with
a value of 0.9 in the NS component [3]. Vertical and horizontal displacements were
reported following the earthquake and studies by Farias (2010) [5] and Vargas (2011)
[9], quantified the rise and subsidence suffered by the territory. The largest rise affected
the west coast of Isla Santa Maria with a value close to 2.5 m. and the second largest
was obtained in the Arauco Península where major uprising evidence found at 2 meters.
On the other hand, the subsidence magnitudes were lower (<1 m).
From the analysis of satellite images and bibliographic data an earthquake-induced
landslide inventory was made by Escobar [4], between the regions of Valparaiso and
Araucania, focused on the Coastal Cordillera and Coastal Plain. This work identifies
288 landslides (including rock falls, rock and soil slides, among others). An important
conclusion of this study was the spatially anomalous density of landslides in the
Arauco Peninsula.
This paper presents the first stages of detailed analyses of the effects of the
earthquake on the stability of slopes in the Arauco Peninsula (Figure 1), by reviewing
their lithological, geotechnical, geomorphological, structural and seismological
characteristics. Following the methodology of Escobar plus field work it was possible
to map more than 100 landslides, greater than the number given by Escobar for the area
(52). Especially, rock and soil slides stand out over the rest of landslides (39 and 40
respectively); these are concentrated in the localities of Tubul and in the SW of Punta
Lavapié. The younger rocks (North and NW of the Peninsula), of marine sedimentary
origin are the most affected with these phenomena (85), suggesting a lithological
control of the landslides. Two soft rock slides were selected to realize analysis with
more detail; these were located in Tubul (Figure 1). In order to reconstruct the affected
slopes and perform numerical stability analysis to determine the main factors of the
slope failure, laboratory tests are conducted in order to obtain geotechnical parameters,
in addition to topographical inputs of the failure surfaces obtained by photogrammetric
techniques and laser scanning and seismic measurements of the slopes.

2. Geologic setting

The study zone is part of the Coastal Plain of the eighth region (Figure 1), with a
maximum extension of 4 km in the town of Punta Lavapie. The area has an irregular
topography with hills that reach maximum heights of 400 m in Punta Lavapie [6]. The
rocks of the Peninsula are mainly sedimentary, of very young ages in geological scale
(<50 Ma), with exception of turbidites sequences (Permian) in southern Arauco. The
main sedimentary units are Trihueco (Eocene), Millongue (Eocene), Ranquil (Miocene),
and Tubul (Pliocene) formations, and recent alluvial and coastal deposits. Most of them
defined in 1946 [7], by Muñoz-Cristi these rocks are mainly sandstone sequences with
siltstone and mudstone, besides the existence of fossils and abundant organic matter in
the Tubul Formation. In the case of Trihueco, Millongue and Ranquil units, it is
possible to recognize events of marine transgression and regression, recognizable in
their type outcrops. All these sedimentary units are important for the study, because
they are the most affected by landslides (85), suggesting a probable lithological control
on their genesis (North and Northwest areas of the peninsula).
 S. Moya et al. / Geomorphological and Geotechnical Analysis of Landslides 3029

3. Landslide Inventory

The 2010 earthquake triggered different types of lanslides, shown in figure 2. They
were inventoried and classified during a short field trip and the analysis of satellite
images. This resulted in the map in figure 1, which shows the location of all detected
landslides. The total number of mapped landslides is 126, which correspond to: 40 soil
slides, 39 rock slides, 33 rock falls, 10 soli-rock slides, and finally, 4 rock avalanches.

Figure 1. Left: Map of Chile with the location of the study área (red square). Right: Shaded
relief map with the locations of landslides triggered during the 2010 earthquake

From figure 3 it is possible to conclude that there is a concentration of landslides in

the area of Punta Lavapie (West Peninsula), located mainly in the area of cliffs, and in
the town of Tubul (Northern part of the Peninsula), so we can infer a possible lithologic
control in the generation of landslides, as there are no major structures that suggest
other geologic control over these landslides. In conjunction with inventory preparation,
two major landslides were chosen for a case study near the town of Tubul (Figure 1
and 2). The purpose of this is a reconstruction of the slopes affected by landslides and
perform stability analysis to determine which were the factors that led to failure. As the
first part of the analysis, we are working in laboratory testing of samples taken from the
slides to determine their geotechnical parameters required for modeling. To support the
modeling a topographical survey has been made by photogrammetry and laser scanning
techniques, which are discussed in the next chapter.
3030 S. Moya et al. / Geomorphological and Geotechnical Analysis of Landslides

A B

C D

Figure 2: Different types of earthquake-induced landslides in the Arauco Peninsula. A Soil slide in the route
to Punta Lavapie. B Rock slides in Tubul. C Rock slide in Caleta Las Peñas. D Rock falls in the Tubul
valley.

4. Specific Studies in Tubul Area

4.1. Lidar and Photogrammetry Surveys

Field campaigns were conducted in the study area for photogrammetric and terrestrial
laser scanning surveys. Along with the ground photogrammetry, an aerial camera
equipped in an air unmanned vehicle (drone) has been used, in order to complement the
model with photos from the air and capture structures that shots from the ground may
not identify. Preliminary models of the slope are shown in figure 3 and figure 4.

A B
 S. Moya et al. / Geomorphological and Geotechnical Analysis of Landslides 3031

Figure 3. Images from the preliminary model of photogrammetric surveys (A, B). Image taken from the
drone flight (C).
F

A B

C D

Figure 4. Model images obtained from the terrestrial laser scanning survey (A, B). Cross sections from the
model of the terrestrial laser scanner survey (C, D)

4.2. Geotechnical Testing and Modelling

In the first field campaigns, samples were taken from the landslides to study, to
perform laboratory tests. Point load, uniaxial and triaxial tests are in the first run of
tests, in order to obtain the geotechnical parameters. These will be used along with the
topographical surveys data and seismic (microvibrations) surveys of the slopes for
3032 S. Moya et al. / Geomorphological and Geotechnical Analysis of Landslides

modelling the landslides through standard stability tests and numerical modelling with
the software UDEC and 3DEC. Preliminary results from point load tests return very
low values for the rock unconfined compressive strength, with values between 1 and
11 MPa.

4.3. Seismic Survey

In order to identify the dynamic systems of the slope, i.e., to recognize the eigenperiod,
superior vibration modes and try to estimate the stiffness of the slope, among other
parameters, ambient noise were recorded simultaneously in the field using an
arrangement of seismographs as shown in figure 5. The arrangement for the two first
measurements follows cross sections of the slope, while the fourth one has triangular
disposition with an equal distance between the instruments. On the other hand, the third
measurement, that only used one seismograph, was located at the top of the hill to
mainly identify the eigenperiod of the slope. The time span per measurement did not
exceed 40 minutes in a total time span of approximately 18 hours. As is clear, these
non-invasive geophysical methods are based on superficial waves for seismic
characterization of soils, and are well known methods commonly used for this purpose,
that is why were chosen for this investigation, as previously indicated, in order to
identify the dynamic system of the slope.

Figure 5. Top view of the arrangement used on the slope to record ambient noise by seismographs
 S. Moya et al. / Geomorphological and Geotechnical Analysis of Landslides 3033

5. Conclusions

The landslide inventory realized in the Arauco Peninsula, shows that the megathrust
2010 Maule earthquake did triggered over 100 landslides, mainly in soft sedimentary
rocks.
In the peninsula we identified 126 landslides, between soil slides (40, including the
shallow ones), rock slides (39), rock falls (33), soil-rock slides (10), and rock
avalanches (4) in the western area. These landslides are concentrated in the
northwestern and northern areas of the Peninsula, affecting soft rock sedimentary units
(Trihueco and Tubul Fm.), suggesting a probably lithologic control in the triggering of
landslides. Other possible conditioning factors landslides (structural, seismological,
geomorphological, etc.) will be analyzed in more detail with the information extracted
from modelling based on topographic and seismic surveys and laboratory tests.

6. Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the FONDECYT project 1140317.

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