Empirical assessment of rockfall and debris flow risk along the Karakoram Highway, Pakistan
Haider, Rashid
Abbas, Wahid
Basharat, Muhammad
Reicherter, Klaus
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04549-4
Persistent URL: http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/11080
Haider, Rashid; Geological Survey of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abbas, Wahid; Department of Earth Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
Basharat, Muhammad; Institute of Geology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan
Reicherter, Klaus; Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
Abstract
The Karakoram Highway links north Pakistan with southwest China. It passes through unique geomorphological, geological and tectonic setting. This study focused 200-km-long section of the highway starting from Besham until Chilas. Landslides are frequent and are mostly triggered by torrential rain during Monsoon and Westerlies, leading to highway blockade. Rockfall and debris flow are prime mode of slope failures. Regional to site-specific approach was implemented to assess risk associated with these two modes. Remote sensing-based techniques were used to identify potential hazardous sites, which were further investigated for risk assessment. Modified Pierson’s rockfall hazard rating system (RHRS) rated potential rockfalls, whereas semi-quantitative technique was employed to assess debris flows. Normalized scores of each site shaped the final map, further classified into four zones: very high, high, intermediate and low risk.