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A fluidized landslide on a natural slope by artificial rainfall

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Abstract

An experiment to induce a fluidized landslide by artificial rainfall was conducted on a natural slope at Mt. Kaba-san in the village of Yamato, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The experimental slope was 30 m long, 5 m wide, and the average slope gradient was 33°. A landslide initiated 24,627.5 s (410 m/27.5 s) after the start of sprinkling at a rainfall intensity of 78 mm/h. The landslide mass was 14 m long and 1.2 m deep (at maximum). It first slid, then fluidized, and changed into a debris flow. The travel distance was up to 50 m in 17s. The apparent friction angle of the fluidized landslide was 16.7°. Formation of the sliding surface was detected by soil-strain probes. Motion of the surface of the failed landslide mass was determined by stereo photogrammetry.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the help of Hiroshi Fukuoka, Ryo Sasaki, Sergio Lourenco, and Ivan Gratchev of Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, and Kotaro Makihara, Seishi Aihara and Yoshinori Yatabe of Chiba University. Also we wish to thank Hiromu Moriwaki, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention for the advice for planning the field experiment. And also we appreciate the support of a number of the staff at Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, especially to Yoshitsugu Takeuchi, Yukio Mashima, and Shozo Nakamura. We are indebted to Ibaraki Prefectural Government and Kanto Regional Forest Office for the permission to conduct the experiment in the Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park and Koido National Forest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, 305-8687, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Yasuhiko Okada

  2. National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, 3-1 Tennodai, 305-0006, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Hirotaka Ochiai, Yoichi Okura, Takuro Matsui & Toshiaki Sammori

  3. International Consortium on Landslides (ICL), Research Centre on Landslide, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Gokasho, 611-0011, Uji, Kyoto, Japan

    Gen Furuya

  4. Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi Inage, 263-8522, Chiba, Chiba, Japan

    Tomomi Terajima

  5. Research Centre on Landslide, Disaster Prevention Research Institutes, Kyoto University, Gokasho, 611-0011, Uji, Kyoto, Japan

    Kyoji Sassa

Authors
  1. Hirotaka Ochiai
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  2. Yasuhiko Okada
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  3. Gen Furuya
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  4. Yoichi Okura
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  5. Takuro Matsui
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  6. Toshiaki Sammori
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  7. Tomomi Terajima
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  8. Kyoji Sassa
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Correspondence to Yasuhiko Okada.

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Ochiai, H., Okada, Y., Furuya, G. et al. A fluidized landslide on a natural slope by artificial rainfall. Landslides 1, 211–219 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-004-0030-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-004-0030-4

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