Spatiotemporal distribution characteristics, causes, and prevention advice of fatal geohazards in Jiangxi Province, China

Abstract

Fatal geohazards result in severe losses of life and property worldwide, thus urging many large-scale studies of such geohazards. Further research on hotspots prone to fatal geohazard identified in national-scale studies is critical for government geohazard prevention. It has been pointed out that more detailed small-scale (sub-national) studies are essential for the hotspots (e.g., Jiangxi Province) identified in national-scale studies. However, there are only a few small-scale studies of hotspots and earlier studies have rarely delved into a thorough and detailed analysis of hotspots. In addition, previous studies of fatal geohazards have failed to offer specific geohazard prevention advice, significant for geohazard control policies. To bridge these gaps, this study took advantage of the Jiangxi Inventory of Fatal Geohazards (JIFGH) and employed spatial analysis and the geographical detector to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and causes and present prevention advice on fatal geohazards in Jiangxi Province. The study also analyzes the importance of provincial-scale (first-level administrative scale) studies for hotspots identified in national-scale studies. JIFGH includes 386 non-seismically triggered fatal geohazards that caused a total of 979 fatalities in the 1960-2020 period. The temporal trend of fatal geohazards in Jiangxi Province is mainly affected by rainfall and the government geohazard prevention measures. The causes of most fatal geohazards in Jiangxi Province include (i) slope-cutting activities in house construction projects that create steep slopes prone to failure, which threaten the vulnerable residents and buildings nearby and (ii) rainfall that triggers failures of cut slopes. This study not only proposes geohazard prevention advice for Jiangxi Province and tectonically stable areas but also analyzes the significance of provincial-scale studies of hotspots identified in national-scale studies. Therefore, this study contributes to the prevention of fatal geohazards in Jiangxi Province and tectonically stable areas, while also providing an essential reference for other studies of fatal geohazards.

Keywords: Causes; Fatal geohazards; Jiangxi Province; Prevention advice; Provincial-scale; Spatiotemporal patterns.