Experiment on dynamic stability of soil slope with variable groundwater table

During earthquakes, the groundwater table impacts on the dynamic stability of soil slope heavily. In order to discover it, the No.6 landslide of Toholu line in Japan as an example, comparison simulation tests under three different groundwater tables have been conducted in laboratory. Some initial results as follows: If the groundwater table in soil slope is lower than half height of the slope, the increasing of groundwater table will not effect on the stability and deformations of soil slope obviously. If the groundwater table is higher than the half height, the dynamic strength and the deformations of soil slope descends markedly with the groundwater table ascending. The seepage on backwall of No. 6 landslide of Tohoku line is the decisive factor for causing the landslide during Fukushima earthquake. Because the water table on the back wall is more than 2/3 height of the slope, the dynamic stability declines rapidly and huge landslide happens.