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Abstract
A large number of landslides occurred during two seismic events (respectively, 6.9 and 6.1 Msw) on 5 March 1987 in the
Ecuadorian Andes. These landslides have been mapped, digitized, and coregistered with topography at 1:50,000 scale. Geometry
of coseismic and Holocene faulting has been assessed integrating field and geophysical data. Landslide distribution and Holocene
tectonic features have been compared with earthquake foci, geological deposits, slope area, inclination and orientation, and
vegetation cover. The macro-seismic field deduced by landslide distribution is ellipse-shaped with the major axis striking NNE
and coinciding with the trend of the coseismic and Holocene faults. Landslide distribution also shows a correlation with respect
to the dip-direction of these faults and the orientation of mountain slopes. Slopes parallel to the coseismic fault planes, sloping
towards WNW, are almost unaffected by landsliding, while this increases on the slopes at high angle to the fault plane and lying
along its strike. If these results could be confirmed in other areas, a method of reconstruction of geometry of seismogenetic faults
from topographic effects appears feasible.
for this study on the same scale. Geological data have /I _..
been derived from D G G M (1978), Balseca and Fer-
rafts (1987), INECEL (1988), and Tibaldi (1990), "2. i r
and geophysical data derived from Barberi et al.
(1988).
J ~/'
Coregistration of these data sets permits a precise
L I' Cayambe%~ h, '// fig 10
comparison of landslide distribution with slope area,
inclination and orientation, rock lithology, epicentre ._.p~/~ ~ J ~ , L / %{R~v~.t~do~
distribution, isoseismal patterns, and fault attitude.
2. Holocene faults
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Fig. 4. Epicentre distribution map of period 1903-1987. Numbers I, 2 and 3 refer to microseismicity analyses discussed in the text. Letters refer
to focal mechanisms: b and c after Barberi et al. ( 19881, e after Woodward and Clyde ( 19811, Schmidt projection, lower hemisphere; black
arrows show the horizontal direction of the P-axis. CO Cordillera Occidental, 1V lnterandean Valley, CR Cordillera Real, SAZ Sub-Andean
Zone. Box shows location of Fig. 8. Location given in Fig. 1.
(USGS, 1987) show a dominant thrust motion with a T axes trending E - W and vertical respectively. The
right-lateral strike-slip component (b and c in Fig. 4) fault dip is westward. The event of 5 August, 1949
along a W dipping fault. Centroid Moment Tensor solu- (Woodward and Clyde, 1981 ) (e in Fig. 4) shows an
tions for the same events (Dziewonski et al., 1988) almost pure transcurrent motion along a NE striking
show nearly pure thrust motions but very similar P and plane with a northwestward high angle dip.
A, Tibaldi et al. / Geomorphology I I (1995) 215-226 219
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/ / ~-___~,~-~,_~,,-.-.-...-...~.,
o i/ /,
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30Kin
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-- l I i I
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Fig. 5. Isoseismic map of the 5 March, 1987 earthquakes (after Barberi et al., 1988). The degree of intensity is indicated for each line. Black
boxes represent the two main shock epicenters with magnitude (Msw). The smaller sinuous lines are three isolines encircling areas of landslide
different density ( 1-39%, 40-59% and 60-100%). Location given in Fig. 1.
3. L a n d s l i d e s a n d t o p o g r a p h y major active faults and are strictly linked to the fault
traces (e.g. in Fig. 6). This distribution is consistent
In the study area several small landslides of rock fall with the presence of active tectonic motions along the
and soil slide type are located along already k n o w n
220 A. Tibaldi et al. / Geon oq~holog v 11 (1995) 215-226
]
6004 t ~OO-(4:~ !,;38Z~
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1975 84
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fault plane tectoglyphs. 1 Latest Pleistocene-Holocene lava flow: 2 Fig. 7. Average monthly precipitation recorded at two stations within
fault trace; 3 triangular facets; 4 landslide scarp; 5 major landslide the study area (San Raphael for 1975-1984, full triangles, and Rio
scree-tongue. "A" is a site discussed in the text. Location given in Salado for 1977-1984, open squares). The unusual precipitation of
Fig. 2. February 1987 is indicated.
CI.
Ct
0 e~
t~
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~ 0
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to
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Fig. 8. Isolines of the percentage of slid area measured with grid cells of 1 sq. km (0, 1, 4, 7, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100%). Areas encircled by dashed lines and marked C L are cloud
covered. The black dot is the summit vent of Reventador volcano. Location given in Fig. 4.
to
to
222 ,4. Tibaldi et al / G e o m o r p h o l o g y / I ~ 199,5) 2 1 5 - 2 2 6
dance of pyroclastic deposits, the high degree of rock tion is similar to the 1960 Chile earthquake which was
fracturation and the high average slope steepness. accompanied by thousands of disrupted soil slides,
Sliding usually started from the uppermost part of though they were restricted to deforested slopes
the mountain slope reaching the portion of the valley ( Wright and Mella, 1963 ).
floor occupied by the river channel. The denuded area The limit of each landslide was digitized and the
is strongly elongate with an aspect ratio ( length/width: affected area was calculated, using a grid cell of 1 km 2
l/w) mostly between 3 and 5. The average volume of ( Fig. 8). The isolines, expressing percentage slid area
these landslides is about 60 X 103 ms. Larger landslides in respect to the cell area, are incomplete in the north-
were also able to cross the widest valley floors reaching western part of Fig. 8 because post-earthquake photos
the opposite valley side. These landslides show an aver- were not available there. Analysis of Landsat images
age l/w = 2.5, and an average volume of about 2 x l ()" of late 1987 shows that landslide frequency rapidly
m 3" decreases in that direction (Fig. 5). The resulting iso-
Three main types of landslide deposits have been line map defines an elliptic-shaped zone with a NNE
recognised. One is composed of a fine matrix, with trending major axis. The coseismic landslides are
granulometric fractions of clay, silt and sand, support- observable along the NNE axis for about 70 km. Such
ing angular clasts and boulders up to several metres in a length is comparable with the fault rupture length
diameter. The collapse surface is planar or gently expected from the magnitude of the events according
curved. This type corresponds to the collapse of soil to the curves by Slemmons (1977). Also the size of
covering, talus, and bed-rock and should coincide with the area affected by landslides (2 000 km 2) is consis-
the rock slide type of Keefer (1984). A second type is tent with the earthquake magnitude, when compared
made of clay, silt and sand, coming from the collapse with data by Keefer (1984), which report a range from
of soil sheets one to a few metres thick. These features 0 km 2 in a M = 4 earthquake to 500,000 km 2 in a
correspond to disrupted soil slides and present basal M = 9.2 earthquake.
shear surfaces mostly formed at soil-bedrock contact. In more detail, the limit of the area unaffected by
A third type is only made up of angular clasts and landslides is asymmetric, with a rectilinear SE bound-
boulders corresponding to rock fall. Disrupted soil ary and a more complicated opposite side. The shape
slides are the most represented type, having been favou- of the latter, which can be better appreciated in Fig. 5,
red by the widespread presence of pyroclastic fall is given by a segmented line trending N-S in the west-
deposits resting on bedrock or on paleosols, and ern zone and NE in the northwestern zone. The area
induced by several phases of explosive volcanism in affected by a landsliding percentage lower than 10
the surrounding volcanic centres (Fig. 2). This situa- shows a regular pattern following the 0 isoline (Fig.
8). The areas included within the isoline 10 tend to
widen symmetrically in correspondence with the cen-
tral zone depicting a NNE elongated symmetric ellipse.
I0
With the exception of the largest landslides involv-
F- 8 ing bed-rock, which are less sensitive to surface char-
z acteristics, landslide distribution data have been
compared with topography and geology in order to
"7 ascertain what really determines the isoline shape. The
4 ,7 results indicate that the isoline shape is principally the
z<
expression of the seismic shake from the following
arguments: (a) in the study area, variations of slope
3
above an inclination of 20-30 ° did not influence the
0 0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 landslide distribution, (b) the average slope steepness
SLOPEORIENTATION
of the collapsed area is almost equal to the contermi-
Fig. 9. H i s t o g r a m representing the percentage of landslided area ( left
y-axis) for each slope orientation (x-axis expressed as slope dip
nous zones and higher than 20 ° except towards the east
azimuth ). The segmented line gives the percentage of area ( right y- where there is a gradual transition to the Amazon Plat-
axis) for a given slope orientation in respect to the total study area. form, (c) the majority of the isolines cross the geolog-
A. Tibaldi et al. / Geomorphology 11 (1995) 215-226 223
Fig. 10. Aerial photo showing different spatial frequency of landslides on mountain slopes with different orientations. Large side of picture is
about 8 km (photogram N, 24099 R-128, authorization n. 930634-IGM-d 3459). Location given in Fig. 2.
224 A. Tibaldi et al. / Geomorphology I l t1995 ) 215-226
Fig. 11. Aerial photo showing a lava flow of the Cayambe volcano affected by maximum landslide density along the slope facing toward ESE
and minimum density along the slope facing in the opposite direction. Large side of picture is about 8 km (photogram N. 24206 R-129.
authorization n. 930634-IGM-d 3459). Location given in Fig. 2.
A. Tibaldi et al. /Geomorphology 11 (1995) 215-226 225
ical boundaries showing them to be independent of the ESE and WNW, but with the same inclination and
rheological characteristics of rocks (compare Fig. 8 lithological characteristics (a lava flow from the Cay-
with DGGM, 1978, or with fig. 2 of Pasquar~ et al., ambe volcano), display maximum and minimum land-
1991 ). Only the eastern part of the central area affected slide density respectively.
by the maximum percentage of landsliding would have
been influenced by the local presence of particularly
thick (tens of meters) pyroclastic deposits lying on the 4. Conclusions
flanks of the Reventador volcano (Fig. 8). The land-
slide density rises here by about 30-M0%. The presence The total field of landslides produced during the 5
of the Reventador volcano produced a local anomaly March 1987 earthquakes has been mapped and shows
but did not affect the general tendency of increase of an elliptical shape with a strong NNE elongation. This
landslide density in this central zone; this increase is elongation is largely independent of geological limits
already present all around the volcano base where pyro- and vegetation cover, while the abrupt rectilinear SE
clastic deposit thickness is usually a few metres. A local boundary of landslide density isolines could have been
increase (by about 20%) in landslide density has been influenced by the high slope gradient of this area.
noted at the passage between intrusive and metamor- The elliptical zone has a good correlation with the
phic bedrock with no pyroclastic cover. location and strike of the fault segments which moved
The rectilinear SE boundary given by isolines 0, 1, during the earthquake and with the general geometry
and 4 which trend NE, corresponds both to a NE strik- of the Holocene faults. The zone of maximum landslide
ing rectilinear fault and to the highest average slope density is very close to the epicentres of the two seismic
decrease of the study area. The zone located to the SE events.
of this boundary, structurally known as Napo Uplift, is At a closer look, landslides preferentially occurred
mostly flat with slopes ranging between 0 ° and 6 °. Some on mountain slopes facing towards ESE. Landslide
valleys with various orientations dissect this territory density decreases along the slopes facing in the other
and are characterised by slope inclinations between 15° directions to the minimum value on slopes facing
and 80°. A few small landslides have been reported towards WNW. This result was weighted by compu-
along these valley flanks. tation of the areas of slopes with different orientations
Another type of comparison of landslide distribution and was compared with lithology and geological struc-
with topography, in the sense of slope orientation and ture showing a clear independence from these factors.
inclination, shows that the landslide density is maxi- WNW dipping slopes are parallel or sub-parallel to the
mum along the slopes facing towards ESE (25-35% dominant fault planes of this area of the Ecuadorian
Fig. 9; e.g. in Fig. 10), is lower along slopes facing in Andes. Having established the contemporaneity
the other directions, and reaches a minimum value between these landslides and the two seismic events of
along mountain slopes facing towards WNW. This 5 March 1987, we would expect a correlation between
result was weighted by computing the percentage of earthquake ground motions, geometry of slope failures
area for the various slope orientations showing a non- and seismogenetic faults. When seismic energy prop-
significant result only for the orientation sector 100°- agated from the shallow focus of the two events, seis-
120 ° (Fig. 9). Vegetation influence should be minimal mic waves crossed the surface with different incidence
because field observations do not suggest variation in angles mostly depending on topography. Evidently
density or type of vegetation on slopes with different there was some amplification of the ground response
orientations for a given altimetric zone. Also, geolog- when the slope is perpendicular or sub-perpendicular
ical influence should be minimal because the same pref- to the seismogenetic fault plane and lies along its strike,
erential landslide distribution characterizes zones of whereas maximum attenuation occurred on slopes par-
different lithology and rock geometry. For example, allel or sub-parallel to the seismic fault plane.
the area shown in Fig. 10 is on sedimentary rock, while These intriguing results, deduced from landslide dis-
the area in Fig. 11 is on intrusive and extrusive igneous tribution and field studies, could represent a topic of
rocks and on metamorphic rocks. In particular in Fig. further multidisciplinary investigations and for micro-
11 two slopes facing in opposite directions towards zonation purposes. To our knowledge, a preferred dis-
226 A. 7ibaldi et al. / Geomorphology 11 (1995) 215-226
t r i b u t i o n o f e a r t h q u a k e - i n d u c e d landslides with respect Dziewonski. A.M., EkstrOm, G., Woodhouse, J.H. and Zwart, G.,
to hillslope o r i e n t a t i o n h a s b e e n r e p o r t e d only by 1988, Centroid moment tensor solutions for January-March,
1987. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 50:116-126.
P e a r c e a n d O ' L o u g h l i n ( 1 9 8 5 ) for the m a s s m o v e -
Hall, LM. and Beate, B., 1991. El volcanismo plio-quatemario en
m e n t s w h i c h o c c u r r e d d u r i n g the 1929 M = 7.7 earth- las Andes del Ecuador. Est. Geogr. Quito, 4: 5-17.
q u a k e in n o r t h w e s t e r n S o u t h Island, N e w Z e a l a n d . Henderson, J., 1937. The West Nelson earthquakes of 1929. N. Z. J.
C o s e i s m i c fault g e o m e t r y ( H e n d e r s o n , 1937) does not Sci. Technol., XIX(2): 65-144.
s u g g e s t the s a m e linking w i t h l a n d s l i d e d i s t r i b u t i o n as INECEL (lnsfituto Ecuadoriano de Electrification), 1988. Estudio
Vulcanologico de '~EI Reventador". Ministerio de Energia y
in the p r e s e n t paper. F u r t h e r studies in o t h e r areas
Minas, Quito, Ecuador, 117 pp.
s h o u l d b e e n c o u r a g e d , in o r d e r to assess the potential Keefer, D.K., 1984. Landslides caused by earthquakes. Geol. Soc.
o f r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f g e o m e t r y o f s e i s m o g e n e t i c faults Am. Bull., 95: 406~421.
f r o m the t o p o g r a p h i c effects o f e a r t h q u a k e s . OAQ (Observatorio Astronomico de Quito), 1959. Breve historia
de los principales terremotos de la Republica del Ecuador. Pub-
licacion del Comit~ del Ano Geofisico lnternacional de Ecuador,
Acknowledgements Quito, Ecuador.
OAQ I Observatorio Astronomico de Quito 1, 198 I. Catalogo de Sis-
mos del Ecuador, 1900-1980. Quito, Ecuador.
W e are i n d e b t e d to A. C a v a l l i n for c o - o p e r a t i o n in
Pasquarb, G., Tibaldi, A. and Ferrari, L., 1991. Relationships
s o m e o f the c o m p u t e r elaborations. W e a c k n o w l e d g e between plate convergence and tectonic evolution of the Ecu-
m a n y s u g g e s t i o n s o n an early v e r s i o n o f the m a n u s c r i p t adorian active Thrust Belt. In: S.S. Augustfiitis (Editor), Critical
b y A. C a n c e l l i a n d t w o a n o n y m o u s referees, and Aspects of Plate Tectonic Theory. Theophrastus Publications,
i m p r o v e m e n t s to the E n g l i s h style b y A . M . H a r v e y . All Athens, pp. 365-388.
the authors are grateful to E L C - E l e c t r o c o n s u l t for Pearce, A.J. and O'Loughlin, C.L., 1985. Landsliding during a M
7.7 earthquake: Influence of geology and topography. Geology,
logistical support. A.T. benefitted f r o m a Ph.D. grant
13: 855-858.
by M i n i s t e r o Italiano della P u b b l i c a I s t r u z i o n e a n d a Slemmons, D.B., 1977. Faults and earthquake magnitude. U.S. Army
f e l l o w s h i p b y Istituto N a z i o n a l e di G e o f i s i c a - G r u p p o Congr. of Engineers, Waterways Experimental Stations. Miscel-
N a z i o n a l e p e r la V u i c a n o l o g i a . laneous Papers S 73-1, Reprint 6:1-129.
Tibaldi, A., 1990. Transcurrent tectonics and anomalous volcanic
arcs: Analysis of some key areas in Ecuador and Mexico. Ph.D.
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