A Case Study Based Slope Stability Analysis at Chittagong City, Bangladesh

Heavy rainfall occurs almost every year in Bangladesh and induces landslides in the hilly regions of this country. Among them the Chittagong City has the worst scenario―as there lives a dense population, extending from the plain lands to the hilly area. So, for risk mitigation and management in this landslide prone city, slope safety margin should be determined. From this context, this article presents factor of safety (FS) values in terms of landslide hazard at Chittagong city, based on geotechnical parameters and slope geometry. Thus a preliminary idea on the allowable stress for slope design could be made from this study. In total, 16 hazard sites of the 2007 and 2008, rainfall induced, landslides were examined as a case study along with subsequent collection of in situ soil samples of the failed slopes for geotechnical laboratory analysis. For FS calculation, the limit equilibrium method for infinite slopes was deployed along with the Cousins’ stability chart. FS values from 0.94 to 1.57 were found at the hazard sites. The results imply that FS value more than 1.57 should be used for slope safety margin. Moreover, from a probabilistic approach, the authors recommend FS > 1.80 as optimum value for the region. Furthermore, a relationship between slope height to slope length ratio, or slope angle and FS was established for this region for a quick calibration of FS value by simple on-field measurement of slope parameters. It is expected that this scenario based finding would contribute in mitigation of landslide hazard risk at the study area. Additionally, site specific FS values were presented in a map by color indexing. This research could ascertain the location wise slope strength requirement and be considered as a guideline for future calculation for slope safety design against rainfall triggered landslides in this city

Diurnal seismic ambient noise and seismic station performance characterization in the Bengal Basin, Bangladesh

Seismic ambient noise (SAN) energy can potentially blur regional and teleseismic arrivals as well as various microearthquakes at specific frequencies. Therefore, quantification of the SAN energy level in a region is required to optimize seismic station distribution for seismological investigations. Moreover, evaluation of station performance and noise source is possible from observation of SAN energy levels. The SAN energy distribution from seismic stations in the Bengal Basin (BB), Bangladesh has not yet been estimated. At the same time, this tectonically active and complex region is less studied using seismic methods. This study aims to quantify SAN energy and characterize its diurnal variation along with evaluating station performance at 11 seismic stations, which were temporarily installed in the deeper portion of the BB. Herein, the daily SAN energy level was determined within the period range of 0.02–30 s by estimating the power spectral density (PSD) of seismic data for 7 continuous days. SAN energy and its variation over time were observed using the probability density functions (PDFs) of PSDs and spectrograms, respectively. The sources of SAN energies at different period bands were also investigated by comparing the PSDs with daily variations in human activities, nearby noise sources, local meteorological factors (i.e., air temperature and precipitation), and sea level height. The insights from this study could be useful for the future deployment of seismic networks as well as seismological studies in the BB

Shear wave velocity estimation in the Bengal Basin, Bangladesh by HVSR analysis: implications for engineering bedrock depth

The S-wave velocity (VS) in the Bengal Basin, Bangladesh has not been resolved from the ground surface to an intermediate depth in a regional context despite its importance for seismic hazard and risk evaluation. For this reason, we estimated VS profiles beneath 19 seismic stations in Bangladesh to a depth approximately 2800 m by employing full horizontal to vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) curve inversion under the diffuse field theory for the noise wavefield. The seismic stations are concentrated in three tectonic zones within the basin: the Surma basin (SB, Zone 1), Bengal Foredeep (BF, Zone 2), and Chittagong Tripura Fold Belt (CTFB, Zone 3). Full HVSR analysis (from 0.2 to 10 Hz) allowed us to obtain deep profiles with combined insights from shallow geotechnical boreholes and deep P-wave velocity (VP) information from active seismic surveys. From the resultant VS profiles, engineering bedrock (VS > 760 m/s) depths were also identified throughout the study area for the first time. The VS profiles within the Holocene to Miocene sedimentary sequences showed rapid variations from location to location. This is due to the highly variable near-surface geology caused by the dense and complex river network and tectonic deformation in Bangladesh. Except for three stations, the engineering bedrock depth exceeded 30 m at all stations. These results indicate the existence of deep soft soil in the study area, where VS³⁰ based site characterization is inappropriate. Furthermore, seismic site response was estimated at a station (DHAK) by simulating a subduction zone earthquake. The resulting response spectrum (RS) exhibited ground motion amplification over a longer period, suggesting that multistory buildings at the site may be at risk if subjected to large earthquakes. The outcomes of this study can serve as useful guidelines for seismic risk reduction planning in Bangladesh

Shear wave velocity structure at the Fukushima forearc region based on H/V analysis of ambient noise recordings by ocean bottom seismometers

This study presents the shear wave velocity (VS) structures of sedimentary sequences and a section of the upper crustal layer in the Fukushima forearc region of the Japan Trench subduction zone, which were obtained by analysing the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratios of ambient vibration records. The H/V curves were derived using 31 d of continuous seismic data from 3 broad-band and 16 short-period ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) stations. Using the broad-band data, H/V ratios from 0.01 to 10 Hz were derived, but the ratios below 0.1 Hz frequencies were unusually large and temporally unstable. Characterization of seismic noise energy from ∼1 yr of seismic data of three broad-band OBSs revealed variable and elevated energy conditions below 0.1 Hz due to typical long-period oceanic noise; we link these observations with the unstable H/V ratios below this frequency. Therefore, H/V analysis was performed in the frequency range of 0.1–10 Hz for both broad-band and short-period OBSs to obtain subsurface VS profiles. For the forward calculation of the H/V ratios in the inversion process, we used the recently developed ‘hvgeneralized’ method, which is based on the diffuse field assumption, and accounts for the water layer on top of stratified media. Moreover, available prior geological and geophysical information was utilized during the inversion of the H/V curves. We found that subsurface VS ranged from approximately 30 m s−1 at the seabed to approximately 4900 m s−1 at 7000 m below the sea floor (mbsf). Starting with the best model candidate at each OBS location, the effect of the water layer on the H/V curve in the deep ocean was investigated by comparing synthetic H/V curves with and without the water layer. The synthetic H/V analysis revealed that the water layer had a significant effect on H/V amplitudes at higher frequencies (>1 Hz), whereas comparatively little effect was observed at lower frequencies (<1 Hz). This study provides an empirical basis for H/V analysis using OBS data to determine VS down to several kilometres of sedimentary sequences to the upper crust with high-resolution.ISSN:0956-540XISSN:1365-246