ALBERT

Description: The propagation of a seismic rupture on a fault introduces spatial variations in the seismic wavefield surrounding the fault during an earthquake. This directivity effect results in larger shaking amplitudes in the rupture propagation direction. Its seismic radiation pattern also causes amplitude variations between the strike-normal and strike-parallel components of horizontal ground motion. We investigated the landslide response to these effects during the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (MW 7.1) in central Kyūshū (Japan). Although the distribution of some 1,500 earthquake-triggered landslides as function of rupture distance is consistent with the observed Arias intensity, the landslides are more concentrated to the northeast of the southwest-northeast striking rupture. We examined several landslide susceptibility factors: hillslope inclination, median amplification factor (MAF) of ground shaking, lithology, land cover, and topographic wetness. None of these factors can sufficiently explain the landslide distribution or orientation (aspect), although the landslide headscarps coincide with elevated hillslope inclination and MAF. We propose a new physics-based ground motion model that accounts for the seismic rupture effects, and demonstrate that the low-frequency seismic radiation pattern consistent with the overall landslide distribution. The spatial landslide distribution is primarily influenced by the rupture directivity effect, whereas landslide aspect is influenced by amplitude variations between the fault-normal and fault-parallel motion at frequencies