Abstract
Empirical rainfall thresholds for the purpose of shallow landslide forecasting are proposed for Peninsular Malaysia where numerous slope failures are reported due to the intense rainfall in conjunction with the humid tropical climate. Thirty-seven cases of landslide-triggering-rainfall were selected from 1993 to 2018 to identify the correlation between rainfall and shallow landslide through the analysis of specific rainfall events. The derived rainfall parameters were applied to establish two rainfall thresholds of (Imean-D) and (Imax-D) via practical methods. For the identical range of event duration 1 < D < 263 h, the (Imean-D) threshold formula was expressed as I = 17.5 D−0.722, while the (Imax-D) threshold was defined as I = 37.8 D−0.114. Both thresholds performed different functionalities with a primary goal of predicting shallow landslides. When both (Imean-D) and (Imax-D) thresholds were compared with the thresholds proposed by various studies worldwide, both dominated the upper positions. More rainfall is required for land sliding due to the high thickness of the Malaysian soil that is associated with the abundant tropical downpour. From the perspective of the antecedent, the period of prolonged precipitation or short heavy rainfall from 1 to 10 days can result in shallow landslides for Peninsular Malaysia. In the context of geology, the igneous rock type of granite has the highest susceptibility to the shallow landslide at 65%, despite other rock types of sedimentary and metamorphic. The threshold validation depicted all True Positive events for the (Imax-D) threshold, and one Negative False event for the (Imean-D) threshold. The (Imean-D) threshold was revised to acquire the new value, but it needed to deal with the possibility of False Alarm and the (Imax-D) threshold seemed to be more credible to represent the rainfall-induced shallow landslide threshold for Peninsular Malaysia.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afungang RN, Bateira CV (2016) Temporal probability analysis of landslides triggered by intense rainfall in the Bamenda Mountain Region, Cameroon. Environmental Earth Sciences 75(1032):1–12, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5835-7
Aleotti P (2004) A warning system for rainfall-induced shallow failures. Engineering Geology 73(3–4):247–265, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2004.01.007
Apendy I (2019) 2 landslide incidents in Cameron Highlands. BH Online, Retrieved February 10, 2021, https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/kes/2019/05/567862/2-kejadian-tanah-runtuh-di-cameron-highlands
Azizah M (2020) 7 houses threatened by landslides. BH Online, Retrieved February 11, 2021, https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2020/05/694325/7-rumah-diancam-tanah-runtuh
Azman M (2014) Landslides blocked the route on Kenyir — Aring Road. BH Online, Retrieved February 12, 2021, https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2014/12/24121/tanah-runtuh-halang-laluan-dijalan-kenyir-aring
Bartelletti C, Giannecchini R, D’Amato Avanzi G, Gal’anti Y, Mazzali A (2017) The influence of geological-morphological and land use settings on shallow landslides in the Pogliaschina T. basin (northern Apennines, Italy). Journal of Maps 13(2):142–152, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2017.1279082
Brunetti M, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Luciani S, Valigi D, Guzzetti F (2010) Rainfall thresholds for the possible occurrence of landslides in Italy. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 10:447–458, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-10-447-2010
Caine N (1980) The rainfall intensity-duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows. Geografiska Annaler 62(1–2):23–27, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/04353676.1980.11879996
Cerri RI, Reis FAGV, Gramani MF, Giordano LC, Zaine JE (2017) Landslides zonation hazard: Relation between geological structures and landslides occurrence in hilly tropical regions of Brazil. Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences 89(4):2609–2623, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201720170224
Chen CW, Saito H, Oguchi T (2015) Rainfall intensity-duration conditions for mass movements in Taiwan. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science 2(14):1–13, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40645-015-0049-2
Cruden DM (2003) The first classification of landslides? Environmental and Engineering Geoscience 9(3):197–200, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2113/9.3.197
Dahal RK, Hasegawa S (2008) Representative rainfall thresholds for landslides in the Nepal Himalaya. Geomorphology 100(3–4):429–443, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.01.014
DID (2018) Mean annual precipitation of Malaysia (2013–2017). Data.
Gov. My, Retrieved December 18, 2019, http://www.data.gov.my/data/ms_MY/dataset/purata-hujan-tahunan-2017
Giannecchini R, Galanti Y, Avanzi GDA (2012) Critical rainfall thresholds for triggering shallow landslides in the Serchio River Valley (Tuscany, Italy). Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 12:829–842, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-12-829-2012
Guzzetti F, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Stark CP (2007) Rainfall thresholds for the initiation of landslides in central and southern Europe. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics 98(3–4):239–267, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-007-0262-7
Guzzetti F, Peruccacci S, Rossi M, Stark CP (2008) The rainfall intensity-duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows: An update. Landslides 5:3–17, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-007-0112-1
Habibah L, Lea TT, Khan YA, Kamil AA, Nazirah A (2013) Prediction of landslide using rainfall intensity-duration threshold along east-west highway, Malaysia. Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research 2:124–133
He S, Wang J, Liu S (2020) Rainfall event-duration thresholds for landslide occurrences in China. Water (Switzerland) 12(2), DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020494
Huang J, Ju NP, Liao YJ, Liu DD (2015) Determination of rainfall thresholds for shallow landslides by a probabilistic and empirical method. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 15(12):2715–2723, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-15-2715-2015
Huang X, Tang C (2014) Formation and activation of catastrophic debris flows in Baishui River basin, Sichuan Province, China. Landslides 11(6):955–967, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-014-0465-1
Kanungo DP, Sharma S (2014) Rainfall thresholds for prediction of shallow landslides around Chamoli-Joshimath region, Garhwal Himalayas, India. Landslides 11(4):629–638, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-013-0438-9
Kazmi D, Qasim S, Harahap ISH, Baharom S, Imran M, Moin S (2016) A study on the contributing factors of major landslides in Malaysia. Civil Engineering Journal 2(12):669–678
Lee ML, Ng KY, Huang YF, Li WC (2014) Rainfall-induced landslides in Hulu Kelang area, Malaysia. Natural Hazards 70(1):353–375, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0814-8
Melillo M, Brunetti MT, Peruccacci S, Gariano SL, Roccati A, Guzzetti F (2018) A tool for the automatic calculation of rainfall thresholds for landslide occurrence. Environmental Modelling and Software 105:230–243, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2018.03.024
Metcalfe I (2012) Tectonic evolution of the Malay Peninsula. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 76:195–213, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2012.12.011
Meyer NK, Dyrrdal AV, Frauenfelder R, Etzelmuller B, Nadim F (2012) Hydrometeorological threshold conditions for debris flow initiation in Norway. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 12:3059–3073, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-12-3059-2012
MyMetro (2015) The landslide on Jalan KKB-Raub was cleared. MyMetro, Retrieved February 13, 2021, https://www.hmetro.com.my/mutakhir/2015/11/93810/tanah-runtuh-di-jalan-kkb-raub-dibersihkan
Nikolopoulos EI, Crema S, Marchi L, Marra F, Guzzetti F, Borga M (2014) Impact of uncertainty in rainfall estimation on the identification of rainfall thresholds for debris flow occurrence. Geomorphology 221:286–297, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.06.015
Nolasco-Javier D, Kumar L, Tengonciang AMP (2015) Rapid appraisal of rainfall threshold and selected landslides in Baguio, Philippines. Natural Hazards 78(3):1587–1607, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1790-y
Norhidayu K, Kamaruddin AT, Wan NAWA, Norfarah NI, Nadiah MH, Ahmad BR (2020) Rainfall intensity (I)-duration (D) induced debris flow in Peninsular Malaysia. Proceedings of AICCE’19, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32816-0_66
Peres DJ, Cancelliere A (2014) Derivation and evaluation of landslide-triggering thresholds by a Monte Carlo approach. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 18(12):4913–4931, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-4913-2014
Pour AB, Hashim M (2015) Structural mapping using PALSAR data in the central gold belt, Peninsular Malaysia. Ore Geology Reviews 64(1):13–22, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2014.06.011
Pradhan AM, Lee SR, Kim YT (2019) A shallow slide prediction model combining rainfall threshold warnings and shallow slide susceptibility in Busan, Korea. Landslides 16(3):647–659, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-018-1112-z
Rosi A, Peternel T, Jemec-Auflič Komac M, Segoni S, Casagli N (2016) Rainfall thresholds for rainfall-induced landslides in Slovenia. Landslides 13(6):1571–1577, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-016-0733-3
Saito H, Nakayama D, Matsuyama H (2010) Relationship between the initiation of a shallow landslide and rainfall intensity-duration thresholds in Japan. Geomorphology 118(1–2):167–175, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.12.016
Segoni S, Piciullo L, Gariano SL (2018) A review of the recent literature on rainfall thresholds for landslide occurrence. Landslides 15(8): 1483–1501, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-018-0966-4
Staley DM, Kean JW, Cannon SH, Schmidt KM, Laber JL (2013) Objective definition of rainfall intensity-duration thresholds for the initiation of post-fire debris flows in southern California. Landslides 10(5):547–562, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-012-0341-9
Suhaila J, Deni SM, Zawiah WZ, Jemain AA (2010) Trends in Peninsular Malaysia rainfall data during the southwest monsoon and northeast monsoon seasons: 1975–2004. Sains Malaysiana 39(4): 533–542
Suhaimi J, Faisal A (2011) An overview of some empirical correlations between rainfall and shallow landslides and their applications in Malaysia. Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering 16: 1429–1440
Valenzuela P, Zêe JL, Domínguez-Cuesta MJ, Mora García MA (2019) Empirical rainfall thresholds for the triggering of landslides in Asturias (NW Spain). Landslides 16(7):1285–1300, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-019-01170-2
Weng CN, Rahim AA, Samat N, Jahi JM (2013) Development and management issues of highland in Malaysia. Proceeding of the 2nd regional seminar on environmental management in Malay World (in Malay)
Wu CY, Yeh YC (2020) A landslide probability model based on a long-term landslide inventory and rainfall factors. Water (Switzerland) 12(4):1–17, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/W12040937
Zakaria M, Chow WS (2003) Geological terrain mapping in Cameron Highlands district, Pahang. Geological Society of Malaysia 46:69–73, DOI: https://doi.org/10.7186/bgsm46200313
Zêzere JL, Trigo RM, Trigo IF (2005) Shallow and deep landslides induced by rainfall in the Lisbon region (Portugal): Assessment of relationships with the North Atlantic Oscillation. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 5(3):331–344, DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-5-331-2005
Zêzere JL, Vaz T, Pereira S, Oliveira SC, Marques R, Garcia RAC (2015) Rainfall thresholds for landslide activity in Portugal: A state of the art. Environmental Earth Sciences 73(6):2917–2936, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3672-0
Acknowledgments
The research has been carried out under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS-RACER) project RACER/1/2019/TK01/UIAM//1 provided by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia. The authors wish to thank all the staff of the Research Development Division, Slope Engineering Branch, Public Works Department of Malaysia for providing the necessary landslide data and the Drainage and Irrigation Department of Malaysia for providing the necessary rainfall data.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maturidi, A.M.A.M., Kasim, N., Taib, K.A. et al. Empirically Based Rainfall Threshold for Landslides Occurrence in Peninsular Malaysia. KSCE J Civ Eng 25, 4552–4566 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-021-1586-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-021-1586-4