A Data Mining approach to predict mass movements induced by seismic events in Sichuan, China

The entire world has been affected by Earthquakes inducing catastrophic consequences. On 12 May 2008, an earthquake with magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale occurred in the Wenchuan area of the Sichuan Province in China. This disaster associated with subsequent aftershocks caused many avalanches, landslides, debris flows, collapses, and quake lakes; and induced many unstable slopes. This work proposes a methodology using a Data Mining approach and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to predict these mass movements through their association with the main and aftershock epicenters, geologic faults, riverbed and topography. A dataset comprising more than 3,800 mass movements has been analyzed. Some models to predict the location of the mass movements induced by the seismic events were developed. These predictive models could be used for the responsible Chinese authorities as a relevant tool in identifying risk areas and rescuing survivors during a similar event in the future.