Quantitative Rockfall Damage and Risk Analysis on Railroad Infrastructure after the 2024 Hualien Earthquake

Cheng-Han Lin; Chin-Ho Kuo; Yu-Chao Lin; Chun-Hua Chen; Meng-Chia Weng

doi:10.64862/ajeg.2025.2sp.12.083

Quantitative Rockfall Damage and Risk Analysis on Railroad Infrastructure after the 2024 Hualien Earthquake

Authors

Cheng-Han Lin Department of Civil Engineering, National Yang Ming Chia Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan Author
Chin-Ho Kuo Department of Railway Engineering, CECI Engineering Consultants, Inc., Taipei, Taiwan Author
Yu-Chao Lin Department of Railway Engineering, CECI Engineering Consultants, Inc., Taipei, Taiwan Author
Chun-Hua Chen Department of Railway Engineering, CECI Engineering Consultants, Inc., Taipei, Taiwan Author
Meng-Chia Weng Department of Civil Engineering, National Yang Ming Chia Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64862/ajeg.2025.2sp.12.083

Keywords:

Rockfall, Damage and risk analysis, Railroad infrastructure, Three-dimensional simulation

Abstract

Taiwan has abundant mountains and limited plains, resulting in transportation networks often constructed along valleys and riverbanks. Particularly for critical transportation infrastructure like the Eastern Taiwan North-Link Railway Line, segments remain susceptible to significant rockfall hazards. On April 3, 2024, a M_w 7.1 earthquake struck Hualien, Taiwan, triggering widespread coseismic rockfalls that damaged the North-Link Railway Line. Taking the mileage of K51 of the North-Link Railway Line as the case study, this study established a rockfall database using iPhone light detection and ranging (LiDAR) during the disaster reconnaissance. A quantitative rockfall damage and risk analysis based on three-dimensional rockfall simulations was then performed to contribute to effective mitigation strategies for railroad infrastructure in terms of rockfalls.

References

Chang, J. M., Chao, W. A., Yang, C. M., and Huang, M. W. (2024). Coseismic and subsequent landslides of the 2024 Hualien earthquake (M7.2) on April 3 in Taiwan. Landslides 21, 2591–2595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-024-02312-x

Crosta, G. B., and Agliardi, F. (2003). A methodology for physically based rockfall hazard assessment. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 3(5), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-3-407-2003

Leine, R. I., Schweizer, A., Christen, M., Glover, J., Bartelt, P., and Gerber, W. (2014). Simulation of rockfall trajectories with consideration of rock shape. Multibody System Dynamics, 32(2), 241–271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11044-013-9385-2

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Published

2025-11-27

Data Availability Statement

Data will be available upon request.

Issue

Vol. 2 No. Sp Issue (2025): Extended Abstract Volume of the ARC-15 of IAEG, Asian Journal of Engineering Geology

Section

ARC15 Extended Abstract

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Quantitative Rockfall Damage and Risk Analysis on Railroad Infrastructure after the 2024 Hualien Earthquake. (2025). Asian Journal of Engineering Geology, 2(Sp Issue), 23-24. https://doi.org/10.64862/ajeg.2025.2sp.12.083