Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985
DOI 10.1007/s12665-011-0905-3
SPECIAL ISSUE
Disaster chains initiated by the Wenchuan earthquake
Mengzhen Xu • Zhaoyin Wang • Lijian Qi •
Le Liu • Kang Zhang
Received: 11 February 2010 / Accepted: 3 January 2011 / Published online: 11 February 2011
Ó Springer-Verlag 2011
Abstract The Wenchuan earthquake caused numerous
landslides and avalanches, which initiated causal chains of
geological and ecological disasters. Field investigations
and field experiments were performed in the earthquake
area in 2008 and 2009 to study the disaster chains. Four
types of disaster chains have been identified and seven
cases have been studied. In the disaster chains, each epi-
sode was caused by the previous episode, or the causal
episode. In the first chain, landslide created a quake lake,
which was followed by landslide dam failure flood and
very intensive fluvial process. The last episode of the chain
was loss of habitats and destruction of aquatic biocom-
munities. The Tangjiashan and Huoshigou landslides ini-
tiated such a type of disaster chain. The second chain
consisted of landslide, drainage system burying, debris
flows, and development of new drainage system and
intensive fluvial process. The Wenjiagou landslide initiated
such a type of disaster chain. The third chain consisted of
avalanches, grain erosion (unusual erosion of bare rocks
due to insolation and temperature change), slope debris
flows, and flying stones. Many such disaster chain events
occurred on the mountains by the Minjiang River section
M. Xu (&)  Z. Wang  L. Qi  L. Liu  K. Zhang
State Key Lab of Hydroscience and Engineering,
Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
e-mail: xumz07@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
Z. Wang
e-mail: zywang@tsinghua.edu.cn
L. Qi
e-mail: qilij7@yahoo.com.cn
L. Liu
e-mail: liusgter@gmail.com
K. Zhang
e-mail: zhang-k08@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn
from Yingxiu to Wenchuan. The fourth chain has only two
episodes: avalanches during the earthquake occurring on
elevation between 100 and 800 m from the riverbed, and
rock falls or new avalanches due to increased slope angle
of high mountains (400–1,500 m from the riverbed). The
Chediguan bridge was broken by such avalanches in July
2009, in which six were killed and more than 20 were
injured. For all the disaster chains, the volume of mass
movement in each episode was much less than the causal
episode (previous episode). In other words, there was an
attenuation along the causal chains. The attenuation factor
is defined as the ratio of the volume of mass movement or
affected area in one episode of a chain to the volume or
affected area in the causal episode. The study concluded
that the attenuation factor ranges from 0.02 to 0.3. Macro-
invertebrates were used as indicator species to evaluate the
ecological effect of the disaster chains. The number of
species was greatly reduced by the causal chains, although
the river section was not directly affected by landslides.
Keywords Wenchuan earthquake  Disaster chain 
Mass movement  Debris flow  Attenuation factor
Introduction
The Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008 caused
numerous landslides and avalanches on streams. The
earthquake occurred as a result of tectonic motion of the
Qinghai-Tibet plateau along the Yingxiu-Beichuan fault,
which is the central fault of the Longmenshan fractural
belt. There are many rivers in the area, including the
Minjiang River, Tuojiang River, Fujiang River, and
Jialingjiang River, and each of these rivers has many
tributaries. These streams are incised streams and the bank
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slopes are steep. According to the China Geological Sur-
vey, 1,701 landslides and 1,844 rock avalanches occurred
and 1,093 unstable slopes formed in 2008 due to the
earthquake (Cui et al. 2009a). Another report gave much
higher numbers of landslides and avalanches, with a total
number of more than 15,000 (Yin 2008). The zone with a
high density of landslides (more than 10% of the surface
area) stretches for 240 km along the fault, and the width of
this zone varies from 25 to 30 km wide in the southwestern
section to 3–5 km wide in the northeastern section (Ouimet
2009).
Landslides and avalanches have initiated several disaster
chains. Landslides with a volume of sliding body larger
than 1 million m3 created quake lakes. Some landslide
dams failed or partly failed. The dam failure flood caused
damages and habitat loss to the downstream reaches (Xu
et al. 2009; Cui et al. 2009b). Moreover, intensive fluvial
process occurred in the downstream reaches, where a huge
amount of sediment deposited during the dam failure flood
and intensive fluvial process occurred in the following
years. In general, as potential energy available for erosion
reduced in the upstream reaches of the dams, accordingly,
sedimentation would occur and the gradient of the longi-
tudinal profile would become milder (Hsu and Hsu 2009).
The intensive fluvial processes in the reaches would affect
ecosystems and cause habitat loss (Perotto-Baldiviezo et al.
2004; Lin et al. 2008).
The mass movements triggered by the Wenchuan
earthquake resulted in a huge amount of loose material on
the slopes, which became the source of solid materials for
numerous debris flows in 2008 and 2009. A total of 515
debris flows have occurred in the area since the earthquake
(Cui et al. 2009a). The frequency of debris flow events was
extremely high and the critical rainfall intensity for trig-
gering debris flow was much lower than before.
Landslides and avalanches supply large amounts of
unstable sediment to the basins where these occur (Ohmori
1992). Landslides may increase the sediment yield for
more than 100 years (Koi et al. 2008). Pearce and Watson
(1986) reported that more than half of the sediment gen-
erated from earthquake-induced landslides would erode
and deposit in river channels over a period of 50 years.
Malamud et al. (2004) estimated the regional erosion rates
associated with landslides as 0.1–2.5 mm/year. They rela-
ted the intensity of seismicity and the magnitude of
earthquake to erosion rates and found that seismically
induced erosion rate was 0.2–7 mm/year. In the Wenchuan
earthquake area, forest, grassland, and wetland was
reduced by 1,221 km2 due to the earthquake (Ouyang et al.
2008). A surface layer of 3–50 cm of the bare rocks was
eroded 1 year after the earthquake. Such extremely inten-
sive rock erosion, named as grain erosion, was experi-
mentally studied (Wang et al. 2009a).
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Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985
Several disaster chains were initiated by the Wenchuan
earthquake. Each of the disaster chains consisted of several
episodes. Disaster chain is defined as a chain of disastrous
events, each of which is the main cause of the next episode
event. Field investigations were performed in 2008–2009
to study the disaster chains. Four types of disaster chains
were identified and seven disaster chain cases were studied.
In the first chain, landslide created a quake lake, which was
followed by landslide dam failure flood, and very intensive
fluvial process occurred. The last episode of the chain was
loss of habitats and destruction of aquatic biocommunities.
The Tangjiashan and Huoshigou landslides initiated such a
type of disaster chain. The second chain consisted of huge
landslide, burying of drainage system, debris flows, and
development of new drainage system and intensive fluvial
process. The Wenjiagou landslide initiated such a type of
disaster chain. The third chain consisted of avalanches,
grain erosion (intensive erosion of bared rocks due to
insolation and temperature change), slope debris flows, and
flying stones. Many such disaster chains occurred on the
mountains by the Minjiang River from Yingxiu to
Wenchuan. The fourth chain has only two episodes: the
first episode was avalanches during the earthquake on
elevations between 100 and 800 m from the riverbed, and
the second episode was new avalanches and rock falls due
to increased slope angle of high mountains (400–1,500 m
from the riverbed).
The scale of mass movement became smaller from one
episode to the next one. There was an attenuation factor
from one episode to the next episode. On the other hand,
the action time of disaster influence became longer from
one episode to the next episode. This paper reported the
disaster chains with case studies and studied the attenuation
factor of the chains.
Research area and research methods
Figure 1 shows the Wenchuan earthquake area around the
Longmenshan fractural belt. This belt consists of three
faults: in the middle is the major Longmenshan fault,
where the Wenchuan earthquake occurred, which extends
from Yingxiu to Beichuan and Qingchuan; on the northern
side there are two broken faults called the back fault; and
on the southern side there are two broken faults called the
front fault. The streams in the area are incised channels and
the bank slopes are so steep that slope failures readily occur
during rainstorm and earthquake events. The landslide
dams were qualitatively identified in different scales: large,
medium, and small landslide dams (National Panel of
Wenchuan Earthquake 2008). Figure 1 also illustrates the
location of the Tangjiashan, Huoshigou, and Wenjiagou
landslides, the broken Chediguan bridge, the Zongqugou
Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985
Fig. 1 Study area and location
of landslide dams. Dashed lines
Longmenshan faults; 
Huoshigou; ` Tangjiashan; ´
Wenjiagou; ˆ Chediguan
bridge; ˜ Zongqugou; Þ Grain
erosion sites along the Minjiang
River and its tributary Yuzixi
River
avalanche, and the intensive grain erosion sites along the
Minjiang River and its tributary Yuzixi River.
Table 1 gives geological information of the Tangjia-
shan, Huoshigou, and Wenjiagou landslides.
The disaster chains were studied mainly through field
investigations and field experiments. Geographical and
geometrical characteristics were measured using GPS
receivers and laser range meters, both with maximum error
of less than 1 m. A 1995 digital map of China with a scale
ratio of 1:250,000, 1960s topographic maps with a scale
ratio of 1:50,000, and 2004 digital topographic SRTM-3
data were used to determine longitudinal profiles and cross
sections of the rivers before the earthquake. Satellite ima-
ges in 2003 and after the earthquake in 2008 were used to
determine the landslide areas and locations of the landslide
dams.
The area of grain erosion and volume of grain deposit
fans were measured in May, August, October, and
December 2008, and in March, April, June, and August
2009. The volume of grains eroded from each grain erosion
site was calculated by using the surface area (measured
with laser range meters) of the grain erosion deposit fan
and the depth of the grain deposit. The rate of grain erosion
of rocks was obtained by dividing the volume of grains at
each deposit fan over the surface area of bare rock.
The samples of benthic invertebrates were taken in the
river reaches affected and unaffected by landslides and
debris flows. Aquatic biodiversity was evaluated by iden-
tifying the species of the samples and comparing the taxa
richness and community composition in the laboratory
(Plafkin et al. 1989; Smith et al. 1999; Karr 1999). The
977
macro-invertebrates were sampled by using a kick-net, and
the species were taken out and identified to family or genus
level under a microscope (Duan et al. 2009).
Disaster chains
Disaster chain 1: landslide–—dam failure flood–—
intensive fluvial process–—loss of habitats
Chain 1 consists of four episodes: (1) landslide occurring
almost at the same time of the earthquake and formation of
landslide dam on rivers; (2) landslide dam failure after a
short period of storage of river water (10–60 days) and dam
failure flood; (3) intensive sediment movement and fluvial
process in the downstream reaches; (4) loss of aquatic
habitats and dramatic reduction of fish and macroinverte-
brates species.
The most precarious of quake lakes triggered by the
Wenchuan earthquake was the Tangjiashan Quake Lake
located at the Jianjiang River and formed by a huge land-
slide from the Tangjiashan Mountain. The volume of the
sliding body was about 20.37 million m3 and the landslide
dam was 612 m long (across the river), 803 m wide (along
the river), and 82–124 m high. It mainly consisted of
quaternary deposit and clastation rocks. The total storage
capacity was about 316 million m3. There was a high risk
of dam-break flooding when 200 million m3 of water had
stored in the lake. A spillway was dug on the dam and then
the water began releasing through the spillway. To help the
water scour the spillway bed to a low level, large boulders
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Table 1 Geological information of landslides

Landslide Location Condition of rock masses Slopes

Tangjiashan Occurred on the Exposed lower cambrian aleuvite, carbonaceous slate, The landslide occurred on the right bank of the
hanging wall of silicolites, marlstone, and mudstone. Hard and soft Jianjiang River with bank slope of 50°. Dip angle
Yingxiu–Beichuan rocks intercalated, resulting in mass sliding surface of the slide surface was about 42°.
fault
Huoshigou Occurred on the Exposed upper paleozoic limestone, reef limestone, Inclination direction and dip angle of the slide
hanging wall of and dolomite. Rock stratum was thin with well- surface were about 90° and 60°, respectively.
Peng–Guan fault developed bedding. Thrust fault and klippes
developed, resulting in complex geologic structure.
Wenjiagou Occurred on the Exposed Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks. Fold The slide surface was monocline with inclination
footwall of and fault developed well. Continuity and integrity of direction of 314–342°, and dip angle of 32–38°.
Yingxiu–Beichuan original formation was destroyed by mass thrust
fault fault.

were exploded. The elevation of the spillway channel on
the dam was eroded down from 740 to 714 m, and the
channel bed was cut wider from about 10 to 100 m. The
lake water volume reduced from 246 million to 86 mil-
lion m3. Although the peak discharge rate was 6,420 m3/s
during the course of channel cutting and lake water
draining, no casualties or damage was caused by the
draining flood. The dam failure flood carried a lot of sed-
iment to the downstream reaches, and an intensive fluvial
process was initiated. The downstream reach was silted up
by 20 m and intensive sedimentation and erosion occurred
in 2008 and 2009. A 20-m thick sedimentation layer was
scoured by floods in 2008 and 2009 at about 500-m
downstream of the failed Tangjiashan dam, and a new
channel formed in the river. The benthic invertebrates and
fish lost their habitat due to the intensive fluvial process.
Another example of the disaster chain was initiated by
the Huoshigou landslide. The Huoshigou ravine is a sec-
ond-order tributary of the Minjiang River in Chongzhou,
near Chengdu. It was a straight river with very steep slopes
and good riparian vegetation before the earthquake. The
Huoshigou landslide was a high-speed and long-distance
landslide, which created an extremely huge air cushion and
airwaves with strong and destructive impact during the
movement (Zhang et al. 2008). Hundreds of houses were
buried and 39 people were killed by the landslide.
The landslide created a small quake lake with a capacity
of 75,000 m3. Witnesses stated that the landslide moved
down along the ravine and was obstructed at the Calabash
Mouth, a very narrow section of the ravine. Thus, the solid
materials piled up and formed a dam. The dam was com-
posed of very fine and loosely deposited materials. During
the rainstorm, the water level in the quake lake rose sharply
and soon caused dam failure on 13 May 2008. Two more
rainstorms occurred on 14 and 17 May 2008, resulting in
floods and scouring of the dam. A ‘‘V’’-shaped channel
with a depth of more than 50 m and bank slope angle of
38° on the dam was scoured.
Three large debris flows carried a huge amount of solid
materials to the downstream reaches and created a 30–2 m
thick sedimentation layer in a section of about 7 km of the
river. The sediment deposit was scoured again by flood,
and intensive fluvial process occurred in the section.
Figure 2 shows the location of the landslide occurrence, the
sliding area, and the area of landslide deposits. The quake
lake and the deposits of debris flows are also marked on the
map. Xiaoyuanbao is an elevation point, and Xiaojiazicao
and Xieziping were two villages ruined during the earth-
quake. The blue lines and the light green line represent the
pre-earthquake and post-earthquake channels, respectively.
‘‘O’’ represents the starting point of the landslide deposits,
and the ‘‘Calabash Mouth’’ was the downstream end of the
landslide dam. The ‘‘H0–H11’’ were measured cross sec-
tions on the landslide deposit; and ‘‘N0–N10’’ were the
measured cross sections on the debris flows deposit.
A total of 24 cross sections of the landslide and the
debris flow deposits were measured by using GPS receivers
and laser range meters. Figure 3 shows the longitudinal
profiles of the river, pre- and post-earthquake, and 1 year
after the earthquake. Figure 4 shows the cross sections,
pre- and post-earthquake, and 1 year after the earthquake at
H2 and H4. The longitudinal profile and cross sections
before the earthquake were obtained from a 1960s topo-
graphic map with a scale ratio of 1:50,000. By using the
map and the measured cross sections, the volumes of the
landslide deposits and debris flow deposits were calculated.
The volume of landslide deposit was 7.21 million m3 and
that of the debris flow deposit was 1.25 million m3.
The debris flow caused intensive fluvial process, which
in turn caused habitat loss and dramatic reduction of bio-
diversity in the downstream reaches. Two samples of
benthic invertebrates were taken in the river reaches
affected and unaffected by the debris flows about
10 months after the earthquake. The sampling area, flow
velocity, and substrates were similar at the two sites. The
species were identified under microscope. Table 2 lists the

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Fig. 2 Huoshigou gully

landslide and initiated disaster
chain

Slide area
La
nd
sli
Channel before slide de d
ep
osi
t
Xiaoyuanbao

New channel
De
br
is f
low
Xiaojiazicao sd
ep
Quake lake osi
t
Calabash Mouth

Xieziping

Fig. 3 Longitudinal profiles of 1350

the Huoshigou ravine channel
Pre-earthquake
pre- and post-earthquake, and 1300
1 year after the earthquake One year after the earthquake

1250 Just post-earthquake

1200
Elevation(m)

1150

1100

1050

1000

950

900

850
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200
Distance from "O"(m)

identified species at the two sites. In the unaffected reach,
16 families or genera were found, including several very
intolerant species, such as Corydalidae, Rhyacophilidae,
and Goeridae. In the affected reach, however, only seven
families or genera were found.
Disaster chain 2: landslide–debris flows–new drainage
system–intensive fluvial process
Chain 2 consists of four episodes: (1) a huge landslide at
the same time of the earthquake and burial of the entire
drainage system; (2) debris flows in the first and second
flood seasons; (3) development of a new drainage system in
the first few years after the earthquake; (4) incision of the
new channels and intensive fluvial process.
A case study of chain 2 was performed in the Wenjiagou
ravine in Mianzhu County. The Wenjiagou ravine is a
tributary of the Mianyuan River and is located in the
Qingping township. The Wenjiagou ravine was 3.25 km
long with a drainage area of 12.31 km2. All of the gullies in
the drainage area were incised with a depth of more than
100 m and bank slopes of 30°–50°.
The Wenjiagou landslide initiated from a high elevation
and slid very fast along the ravine to the confluence with the
Mianyuan River. The total volume of landslide deposit was
about 81.6 million m3 (Sichuan Geological Engineering

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H2-cross section earthquake. The landslide provided plenty of loose mate-

1250
rials for debris flow. Almost all rainstorms with intensities
1240 higher than 30 mm/day have triggered debris flows in
2008. A large debris flow after a rainstorm with an intensity
Elevation (m)

1230 of 88 mm/day on 22–24 September 2008 transported

0.9 million m3 of sediment to the ravine mouth, burying
1220
roads, houses, and farmland. The debris flows scoured the
1210 Pre-earthquake landslide deposit and formed a ‘‘V’’-shaped channel with a
depth of 50 m. About 1.7 million m3 of sediment was
One year after the
1200 earthquake eroded from the landslide deposit by the debris flows, and
Post-earthquake about 1 million m3 of sediment was carried to the ravine
1190
0 50 100 150 200 250 mouth.
Distance from left bank (m) A new drainage system developed during the process of
scouring and debris flows. Figure 5 shows the landslide and
H4-cross section the new gully that developed on the landslide deposit.
1240

1230
Figure 6 illustrates the longitudinal profiles of the Wenji-
agou ravine before the earthquake, after the landslide in
1220
May 2008, and after new drainage development in 2009.
1210
Very intensive channel bed incision occurred on the new
Elevation(m)

1200 Wenjiagou ravine. Because the banks of the new gully

1190 were very steep, incision of the gully bed caused collapse
1180 of the banks. Consequently, more debris flows took place.
One year after the
1170 earthquake
In the meantime, the sediment carried into the Mianyuan
1160 Pre-earthquake River also caused intensive fluvial process.
1150 Post the earthquake
Disaster chain 3: avalanches–grain erosion–slope debris
1140
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 flow
Distance from left bank(m)
The Wenchuan earthquake triggered numerous avalanches
Fig. 4 Cross sections of the channel pre-earthquake, post-earthquake,
and rock falls along streams. The avalanches have left a
and 1 year after the earthquake at H2 and H4
great area of bare rocks (Wang et al. 2009b). Mass bare
rocks caused by avalanches of granite rock on the Minjiang
Corporation 2009). The landslide buried the Wenjiagou River and bare rocks by avalanches of dolostone on the
ravine and its tributaries underneath a thickness of landslide Mianyuan River are very common. The newly exposed
debris with a thickness of 20–180 m. As much as 34 houses rocks are fragile and easily broken down under the action
were buried and more than 80 people were killed by the of sunshine and temperature change. Intensive grain ero-
landslide. The landslide deposit consisted of loose solid sion has been occurring since the exposure. Grain erosion
materials of different sizes. is defined as the phenomenon of breaking down of bare
The Wenjiagou ravine was not a debris flow gully and rocks under the action of insolation and temperature
there was no debris flow in the past 100 years before the changes, detachment of grains by wind, flow of grains

Table 2 Macroinvertebrates in the stream bed affected and unaffected by the intensive fluvial process
Substrates and flow condition Assemblage composition

With Gravel and sand (size grading: D \ 20 cm accounted for 100%; Simuliidae (6); Baetis sp. (4); Baetiella sp. (3); Perlidae (2);
intensive D \ 10 cm accounted for 90%; D \ 0.2 cm accounted for 5%). Nemouridae (1); Pelopia spp. (3); Chironomus spp. (3).
fluvial Fluid mud existed in riffle. Water depth: 10–15 cm. Water Total up to seven families/genus.
process velocity: *0.6 m/s
No intensive Gravel, coarse sand (size grading: D \ 20 cm accounted for Lymnaeidae (1); Corydalidae (1); Rhyacophilidae (2);
fluvial 100%; D \ 10 cm accounted for 85%; D \ 0.5 cm accounted Hydropsychidae (1); Goeridae (1); Nemouridae (4);
process for 15%). Fluidmud exists. Water depth: 10 cm. Water Tubificidae (1); Tipulidae (4); Ceratopogonidae(1);
velocity:*0.5 m/s. Psychodidae (2); Baetis sp. (13); Baetiella sp. (44); Pelopia
spp. (18); Chironomus spp. (20); Procladius Skuse spp.
(14); Orthocladiinae (77). Total up to 16 families/genus.

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Fig. 5 Wenjiagou landslide 2320m

(Sichuan Geological
Engineering Corporation 2009) Wenjiagou
1800m landslide:44,500,000m3

1600m

0m Deposition at
: 20
n ce Hanjiadaping:22,600,000m3
ta
is
D

1300m

Deposition in main
gully: 59,000,000m3

Fig. 6 Longitudinal profiles of

the main channel before the
earthquake, after the landslide
in May 2008, and after the new
drainage development in 2009

down the slope under the action of gravity, and accumu-
lation of grains at the foot of the mountain forming a
deposit fan (Wang et al. 2009b).
Figure 7a shows a grain erosion site on the Minjiang
River near Wenchuan. In general, a grain erosion site
consists of three parts: grain erosion surface at the top,
grain flow section in the middle, and a deposit fan at the
foot of the slope. The rock surface of grain erosion has a
slope angle in the range of 45°–60°. There is no vegetation
on the erosion surface. The detached particles roll or flow
through a section, which has a slope angle of about 40°.
The deposit fan has an angle of about 35°, which is equal to
the angle of repose of the granular material. Extremely
intensive grain erosion occurred in the dry season from
March to June in 2009. The grains are much finer than the
avalanche deposit. Figure 7b shows a layer of grain erosion
deposit covering an avalanche deposit fan on the Minjiang
River near Wenchuan. The grains are uniform in size with
a median diameter of about 1 cm. In contrast, the ava-
lanche deposit beneath the grain layer is non-uniform,
consisting of stones of several meters and fine particles less
than 1 mm.
The rate of grain erosion was measured at the Minjiang
and Mianyuan rivers in June and July 2009. As shown in
Fig. 7b, the depth of grain erosion deposit on the avalanche
deposit fan could be easily identified by its uniform size
and measured with a scale at two or three places. The
average depth of grain erosion deposit multiplied by the
surface area of the fan was the volume of grains eroded
from each grain erosion site in the past year. The area of

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Fig. 7 a A grain erosion site on the Minjiang River near Wenchuan;
b A layer of grain erosion deposit covered on an avalanche deposit
fan on the Minjiang River near Wenchuan (June 2009)
grain erosion of the bare rock surface was measured with
laser range meters, which have a maximum error of 1 m.
The bare rock surfaces were generally larger than 100 m in
length and width; therefore, the maximum relative error
was less than 1%. The rate of grain erosion of rocks was
obtained by dividing the volume of grains over the surface
area of bare rock.
The rate of grain erosion of bare rocks on the Minjiang
River was between 3 and 53 cm/year, with an average of
about 17 cm/year (Wang et al. 2009b). The rate of grain
erosion was more than 1,000 times higher than the so-
called shattering erosion of rocks in temperate upland
environment, as well as cold environments worldwide
(Saas and Krautblatter 2007, Matsuoka 2008). The rate of
grain erosion in the earthquake area was much higher than
in other areas, because the bare rocks in the earthquake
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Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985
area were fresh. According to field investigations, about
30% of the bare rocks caused by avalanches, rockfalls and
landslides suffered grain erosion. Grain erosion is a
disastrous mass movement, because it destroys vegetation
and prevents vegetation restoration.
Grain erosion causes slope debris flows and generates
flying stones, damaging cars and injuring humans. Most of
the highways in west Sichuan are constructed along rivers.
People have repaired or reconstructed highways that were
damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. All highways
were reopened before the 1-year anniversary of the
Wenchuan earthquake. Nevertheless, due to continual grain
erosion, particles with a diameter of 1–20 cm roll and
saltate down the slope and potentially fall on cars and
humans. The authors of this paper have witnessed a flying
stone that broke the windshield of a car and seriously
injured the driver. Grain erosion has caused many high-
ways to become so-called ‘‘flying stone sections’’, espe-
cially the highway along the Minjiang River. The highway
managers have hired many people to monitor flying stones
and issue warning signals. The highways are occasionally
closed because of these flying stones.
The deposit fans consist of uniform and loose solid
materials and have high slope. Rainfall with an intensity of
more than 20 mm/day triggers mass movements of the
grains. These mass movements behave like debris flows,
but the distance of the movement is, however, much shorter
than normal debris flows, and in general travels only sev-
eral tens to one hundred meters. This mass movement is
called slope debris flow. It carries a lot of grains into rivers
or deposits the grains on highways, causing blockage of
highway transportation or local sedimentation on the riv-
erbed. The aquatic ecosystem is impacted by the sedi-
mentation, and fish and benthic invertebrates lose their
habitat due to the sedimentation.
Disaster chain 4: avalanches–new avalanches
Chain 4 consists of only two episodes: avalanches during
the earthquake, which mainly occurred at an elevation near
the riverbed; and new avalanches at higher elevation.
According to statistics, more than 90% of the avalanches
directly triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake occurred in
an elevation range of 100–800 m above the riverbed. The
avalanches increased the slope of the upper part of the
mountains.
Many avalanches were triggered by the Wenchuan
earthquake on the Minjiang and Yuzixi rivers, where the
lithology was mainly granite. The Yuzixi River is a trib-
utary of the Minjiang River, which flows into the Minjiang
River at Yingxiu. The density of avalanches was so high
along the two rivers that about 50% of the valley slopes
(0–500 m from the riverbed) were covered by avalanches.
Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985 983

Figure 8a shows the area percentage of avalanches on the
valley slopes along the river from the mouth at Yingxiu to
Qicenglou. The percentage was measured with laser range
meters. Figure 8b shows: the riverbed profile before the
earthquake, which was obtained from DEM data in the
1960s; the riverbed after the avalanches in 2008, which was
measured by using GPS receivers; and elevations of ava-
lanches, which were measured by using laser range meters.
The avalanches created many small quake lakes and
enhanced the bed elevation by several tens of meters at
different places. The avalanches mostly occurred on ele-
vations between 100 and 600 m from the riverbed.
On the Minjiang River, the upper part of the mountains
(400–1,500 m from the riverbed) lost the support of the
lower part due to the avalanches below. The slopes of the
upper mountain increased or even some parts became
suspended. Moreover, the earthquake caused the rocks to
be cracked and broken. In the following years, new ava-
lanches were caused when rainstorms or tremors occurred.
In 2009, such avalanches occurred at the Chediguan bridge
on the Minjiang River and Zongqugou ravine, a tributary of
the Minjiang River.
The highway from Dujiangyan City to Wenchuan
County town was seriously damaged by the earthquake and
was reconstructed and reopened before the 1-year anni-
versary of the earthquake. The Chediguan bridge is a key
bridge crossing the Minjiang River. The bridge was broken
by new avalanches from the right bank of the Minjiang
River (GPS: N31°180 05.900 , E103°270 59.100 ) at 4:40 in the
morning of 25 July 2009 (Beijing Time). In fact, this event
was the second episode of the disaster chain. The
Wenchuan earthquake caused many avalanches on the
slopes with elevations of 100–400 m from the riverbed at
this place; moreover, the earthquake caused many rocks to
be cracked and broken. Consequently, rocks at higher
elevation became unstable. Consecutive rock falls occurred
from elevations of about 400 m in the afternoon of 24 July
2009, as shown in Fig. 9a. In the morning of 25 July 2009,
an avalanche occurred from elevations of 500–600 m. A
huge stone of more than 200 tons fell down and broke the
third pier of the Chediguan bridge, causing more than 60 m
of the bridge collapse. Five trucks and a van dropped into
the Minjiang River, six people were killed, and 12 injured.
Transportation was cut off for 2 weeks (Xiao 2009).
Figure 9b shows the cross section of the avalanches. The
banks are steep because the Minjiang River had been
incising the riverbed for centuries. The slope angle of the
right bank is 40°–50°, which is higher than any repose
angle of solid materials. The avalanches during the
(a)

(a) 100
80
P (%)

60
40
20
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
L (km)
(b) 2400 2500
River bed before earthquake (b)
2200
After earthquake 2300
2000 Elevation of avalanche
2100
Elevation(m)

1800
E (m)

1600 1900

1400 1700
Avalanches in 2009
1200
1500
Avalanches due to
1000 the earthquake
1300
800
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 Avalanches deposit
1100
L (km) 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Distance (m)
Fig. 8 a Area percentage of avalanches on the valley slopes along the
Yuzixi River from Yingxiu (river mouth) to Qicenglou; b riverbed Fig. 9 a Small-scale avalanches and rock falls at Chediguan on 24
profile before the earthquake, after the avalanches, and the elevation July 2009; b cross section of the Chediguan avalanche (on 25 July
of the avalanches from the riverbed 2009)

123
984
earthquake increased the slope in the upper part of the
bank. Thus, new avalanche occurred and caused the
tragedy.
A similar event occurred at the Zongqugou ravine, a
deeply incised tributary of the Minjiang River near
Maoxian. The lithology was mainly composed of lime-
stone, which easily cracked in the earthquake. The bank
slopes, especially the left bank, were also in the range of
40°–50° before the earthquake. The Wenchuan earthquake
caused avalanche and rock falls from elevations of
400–800 m. Huge stones of diameters 1–15 m dropped into
the Zongqugou ravine and formed a quake lake with a
capacity of about 200,000 m3. In March 2009, an ava-
lanche occurred at high elevations ([800 m) and several
huge stones larger than 10 m diameter fell down and hit
against the quake lake dam. The dam was partly broken
and a small dam failure flood occurred, which caused no
casualties.
Discussion
In the four disaster chains, the time of occurrence or
activity of each episode disaster is longer than that of the
previous episode. Figure 10 shows the estimated time of
occurrence of various disasters initiated by the Wenchuan
earthquake. Landslides and avalanches occurred almost
simultaneously with the earthquake. Landslide dam failure
floods occurred about 10–60 days after the landslides. The
Chi–Chi earthquake that occurred in Taiwan on 21 Sep-
tember 1999 caused an unusual high frequency of debris
flow and intensive fluvial process in about 10 years after
the earthquake (Lin et al. 2003). The impacts on ecology
would be caused mainly by the intensive fluvial process
and last for about a decade. Soil erosion and grain erosion
intensified by the earthquake may last for 100 years (Koi
et al. 2008; Lin et al. 2008). New avalanches occurred due
to the increased slope and cracked rocks. The time of
occurrence of the high elevations avalanches is estimated
within 10 years. Vegetation development may mitigate the
risk of high elevation avalanches.
In the four disaster chains, the intensity of each episode
disaster was lower than that of the previous episode. There
was attenuation along the disaster chain. If the magnitude
of the geological disaster is evaluated by using volumes of
mass movement, the attenuation factor can be defined as
the ratio of the volume of mass movement in one episode
of a chain to the volume of the mass movement in the
previous episode. For instance, in the Huoshigou disaster
chain, the volume of the landslide was 7.21 million m3,
and the volume of all debris flows was 1.25 million m3.
Thus, its attenuation factor was 0.17.
123
Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985
Time of occurrence of each episode(yr)
100
10
1
0.1
0.01
0.001
L&A Q D&F E G H
Episode of disaster chain
Fig. 10 Estimated time of chain disasters induced by the Wenchuan
earthquake. L and A landslide and avalanches; Q failure of Quake lake
dam; D and F debris flows and intensive fluvial process; E impacts on
ecology, G erosion, especially grain erosion; H new avalanches at
high elevations
In the Wenjiagou disaster chain, the total volume of the
landslide was 81.6 million m3, and mass movement in
debris flows was about 1.7 million m3. Moreover, debris
flow would continue to occur in future. Thus, the attenu-
ation factor would be about 0.02–0.03. In chain 3, the
attenuation factor may be calculated with the area of rocks
on which avalanches and grain erosion occurred. On the
Minjiang River from Caopo to Wenchuan, grain erosion
occurred on about 30% of the bared rock surface. In other
words, the attenuation factor for avalanches and grain
erosion was about 0.3. In chain 4, the new avalanches
occurred only at several places. The ratio of areas with new
avalanches was very small.
Conclusions
The Wenchuan earthquake initiated four disaster chains: (1)
landslide—quake dam failure flood—intensive fluvial pro-
cess—loss of habitat and species of fish and invertebrates;
(2) landslide—debris flows—development of new drainage
system—intensive bed incision and fluvial process; (3)
avalanches—grain erosion—debris flow and flying stones;
and (4) avalanches—new avalanches due to increasing slope
at high elevation and cracked rocks.
The time of occurrence of the disasters differs. In gen-
eral, the following episode has a longer occurrence time
influence than the causal episode. The duration of a disaster
chain depends on the length of the disaster chain. The time
of occurrence for late episodes of disasters may be in the
order of 100 years.
The intensity of disasters attenuates from one episode to
another. If the attenuation factor is defined as the ratio of
the volume of mass movement or the area of affected
Environ Earth Sci (2012) 65:975–985
region in one episode to that of the previous episode, it
varied in the range of 0.02–0.3.
Acknowledgments The study was supported by the Ministry of
Science and Technology of China (2008CB425803) and the Ministry
of Water Resources of China (200901078).
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