Landslides triggered by the 30th June 2012 Ms6.6 Hejing earthquake, Xinjiang province, China

On June 30th, 2012, at 05:07 local time, an Ms 6.6 earthquake (43.4 degrees N, 84.8 degrees E) struck Hejing County, Xinjiang Province (hereinafter called the Hejing earthquake). This study aims to establish a comprehensive landslide inventory associated with the Hejing earthquake based on pre- and post-quake RapidEye and Ikonos satellite images. According to the detailed landslide interpretations, this earthquake has triggered at least 453 coseismic landslides, with a total area of 0.66 km(2). The landslides are primarily shallow landslides, rockfalls, and rolling stones, with a few shallow debris flows. The landslides are predominantly distributed along the strike of the southern edge of the Awulale mountain fault (SEAMF), and most of them are concentrated near the epicenter, particularly in regions with PGAs exceeding 0.12 g. Statistically, landslide area density (LAD) increases as the hillslope gradient and relief increase, demonstrating a linear relationship. Notably, landslides are more likely to occur in high-elevation areas with significant reliefs and seismic activity such as aftershocks. Furthermore, over 80% of coseismic landslides occurred on the hanging wall of the SEAMF, and as the distance of the fault increases, the landslide abundance index rapidly decreases. Based on the focal source mechanisms, aftershock data, and landslide distributions, we suggest that the most dominant seismogenic structure of the Ms6.6 Hejing earthquake is the SEAMF.