Evaluating Susceptibility Of The 2005 Earthquake Produced Landslides In Kashmir Region, Northern Pakistan

On October 8th, 2005 a devastating earthquake in the Kashmir region has triggered widespread landslides, which were considered the second most important driver of devastation to the natural and man-made environment after the earthquake. Landslides susceptibility assessment is the prerequisite for the landslide management, however, considering the dynamic spatial-temporal distribution of co-seismic landslides, an updated landslide susceptibility assessment is of fundamental importance. This paper has evaluated the earthquake-induced landslides and developed an updated landslide susceptibility map. A detailed inventory of the co-seismic landslides is acquired from the SPOT-5 satellite image and field observations. The developed landslide inventory is subsequently cross analyzed with the ASTER based Digital Elevation Model (DEM) computed topographic parameters (curvature, slope angle, aspect, drainage pattern), geology, human activities and fault lines to investigate their influence on landsldies distribution. The derived correlations were statistically analyzed using a Weight-of-Evidence model to develop the landslide susceptibility map. The accuracy of the developed landslide susceptibility is 74 %. The acquired susceptibility map can be used by the relevant departments for the landslide's mitigation and risk reduction.