Case Studies and Numerical Investigation of Landslide Triggering Mechanisms in Western Ghats, Kerala, India

• Published in: Indian Geotechnical Journal Vol. 54; no. 1; pp. 96 - 108
• Main Authors: Choudhury, Deepankar, Das, Tanmoy, Rao, Vansittee Dilli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01.02.2024
• Subjects: Engineering; Foundations; Geoengineering; Hydraulics; OriginalPaper; Case study; Landslides; Pore water pressure; Finite element Analysis; Time response analysis; Rainfall intensity
• ISSN: 0971-9555; 2277-3347
• DOI: 10.1007/s40098-023-00763-y

Due to significant rainfall during the monsoon, Kerala regularly sees landslides across the steep sloppy terrains of the Western Ghats. This causes significant harm to both man-made and natural ecosystems throughout several districts of the state. In order to find the root cause mechanisms of such failures, a finite-element-based stability analysis has been performed in this study. Additionally, fluctuations in several soil internal properties and deformation across time and space as a function of rainfall intensity have been discussed based on results of the recent literature. Further, Kerala is located inside a Stable Continental Region (SCR). Due to the presence of critically loaded faults dispersed across a wide region, the SCR seismicity includes destructive earthquakes and offers a significant overall danger. As many slopes in the area have already been undermined by prior landslides, even a small magnitude earthquake might cause slopes to fail or reactivate landslides. Therefore, in addition to static analysis, the performance of critically stable rainfall-affected slopes under earthquake conditions was described by explaining outcomes of the related literature. The methodology and results discussed in this article can be used to predict the performance of slopes situated in tropical regions under rainfall and earthquake conditions to prevent such calamities in the future.