Satellite Image Survey of Landslides Triggered by the 2024 Wushi Earthquake, Xinjiang, China

ABSTRACT On January 23, 2024, an Ms7.1 (Mw7.0) earthquake struck Wushi County in the Aksu Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The Wushi earthquake triggered various types of landslides, including rockfalls and rolling stones. This study utilised satellite images to establish an inventory of landslides triggered by the Wushi earthquake and conducted a preliminary analysis of their development patterns. The results indicate that the Wushi earthquake induced at least 1273 landslides within an area of 36,395 km 2 . The landslides ranged in size from as small as 9 m 2 to as large as 13,418 m 2 , with a total affected area of 0.42 km 2 . The overall landslide number density and area density in the study area were 0.03 km −2 and 0.001%, respectively. The majority of landslides occurred in Yamansukeerkezizu Town of Wushi County and were predominantly small in scale. Nearly 95% of the landslides were smaller than 1000 m 2 and exhibited high mobility. The spatial distribution of landslides was significantly influenced by the positions of the hanging wall and footwall, with the number of landslides on the hanging wall being nearly 5 times that of the footwall. The Wushi earthquake displayed a relatively weak landslide‐triggering capacity, with both the number and scale of landslides being lower than those typically observed in strike‐slip earthquakes of similar magnitude. These findings provide a detailed inventory for analysing the distribution patterns and hazard assessment of landslides triggered by the Wushi earthquake and offer a crucial basis for studying the mechanisms of earthquake‐induced landslides in the Tianshan region.