Earthquake Hazards

Landslides, Liquefaction, Dam

Failure, Ground Rupture and
Structural Collapse
 Landslides

• There are many

historical accounts of
landslides and debris
avalanches resulting
from earthquakes.
And indeed, these
effects may be the
most common and
hazardous results of In 1970, an earthquake-induced rock and snow avalanche
on Mt. Huascaran, Peru, buried the towns of Yungay and
earthquakes Ranrahirca. The total death toll was 66,700. The avalanche
swept down slope about 14.4 km (9 mi) to Yungay at an
average speed of over 160 km (100 mi) an hour. It is
estimated to have consisted of about 2,200,000 m3
(80,000,000 ft3) of water, mud, and rocks.
 This figure below shows a view of the landslides
along Highway 18 that connects Redlands to Big
Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains. The strong
shaking also caused landslides to occur along
Highway 38. The steep slopes are white in color
because of the white decomposed granite soil. Big
boulders were embedded in the soil covered slopes.
Above: Earthquake-induced slide and alluvial fan on The dust clouds created by the landslides were
downstream side of Madison River, Montana. Light similar to smoke clouds from forest fires. People
colored rock is dolomite marble, the more resistant thought that forest fires were occurring.
rock that supported weathered, mica-rich, overlying
layers. An earthquake in 1959 fractured this dolomite
and caused a great avalanche of rock, dirt, and trees
to cascade from the steep south wall of the Madison
River Canyon, about 394 m (1,300 ft) above the
canyon floor. The avalanche formed a barrier 60.6 to
121.2 m (200 to 400 ft) high that completely blocked
the gorge and the flow of the Madison River and
created a lake. Twenty-eight people were believed to
have been engulfed in the 88,000 kg (80 million ton)
slide.
 This view shows the boulder itself.

This view shows the This view shows a

ridge where the boulder portion of the boulder's
was located prior to its path through the forest.
fall.

Several huge boulders reportedly bounded down Yucaipa Ridge above Forest Falls. One
large boulder crashed down the hillside, mowing down tall cedars in its path. The
boulder, the size of a small garage and measuring 16 ft by 16 ft by 14 ft, came to rest
about 20 yards behind the Clarke residence on Prospect Drive in the western edge of
Forest Falls. The boulder was estimated to have descended 1,000 feet vertically and
covered a horizontal distance of 1,000 feet. It was said to be airborne most of the way as
it hit the ground only three times on the way down.
 Left: Earthquake of April 24, 1984, Morgan Hill,
California. This magnitude 6.2 earthquake caused
$30 million in property damage in northern
California. The earthquake was felt over an area of
120,000 km2 in California and western Nevada. A
landslide blocked the highway and bridge on Dunne
Avenue at the east side of Cochrane Bridge. The
bridge on East Dunne Avenue over Anderson
Reservoir (about 7.2 km east of Morgan Hill) was
closed to traffic due to a rock slide and major
structural damage.

Right: Earthquake of July 8, 1986, Palm Springs,

California. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake caused
$4.5 million in property damage and injured at
least 29 people. Landslides occurred in the area.
The shock was felt throughout much of southern
California and in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lake
Havasu City, Arizona and in the northern Baja
California area of the United States and Mexico.
A rockfall and debris slide has partially blocked
the highway.
• Landslide potential due
to seismic shaking is
well known based on
slope steepness and past
history. The blue areas
on this map indicate
areas prone to landslide
activity during strong
shaking. This map of the
Laguna Beach area is
from the California
Division of Mines and
Geology (CDMG)
Seismic Hazards
Mapping Program.