Large slope collapses have been known to trigger extreme rushes of air loaded with projectiles (airblasts) capable of causing destruction and fatalities far beyond run-out of the rock mass. An appraisal of the likelihood of a destructive airblast should be a component of landslide risk assessments. Yet there is an absence of risk studies directly examining landslide-related airblasts. In this work we back-analyze an unreported airblast in the Sikkim Himalayas (India) and several other airblasts documented around the world. We explore the conditions a large slope collapse should meet to trigger a significant airblast, and we establish a semi-empirical relationship linking the potential energy in a collapse with airborne trajectory and the extent of the related airblast. The collapse of thousands or millions of cubic meters falling from a significant height results in a sudden release of energy (1011J to 1013J) and a high degree of comminution of rocks, causing a violent displacement of air. Average wind speeds of airblasts following impacts with airborne trajectory can be double the speed of rock avalanches. The size of the damage zone depends on the potential energy of the falling rock mass and can be amplified or reduced depending on how confined the valley is where the airblast occurs.

中文翻译：

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大坡度坍塌引起的爆炸

众所周知，大的边坡坍塌会触发装有弹丸（爆破片）的空气的极端冲动，这些抛丸会造成破坏和死亡，远远超出了岩体的跳动范围。对破坏性喷枪的可能性进行评估应该是滑坡风险评估的组成部分。但是，尚无直接研究与滑坡有关的爆炸事件的风险研究。在这项工作中，我们对锡金喜马拉雅山（印度）的一次未报告的爆炸事件进行了回溯分析，并在世界范围内对其他几起爆炸事件进行了分析。我们探索了大坡度崩塌应满足的条件，以引发重大的爆炸，并建立了半经验关系，将塌陷中的势能与空中轨迹和相关爆炸的范围联系起来。从显着高度下降的数千或数百万立方米的坍塌会导致能量突然释放（1011J至1013J），并导致岩石高度破碎，从而导致空气剧烈位移。受到空中飞行轨迹影响后，冲击波的平均风速可能是岩石雪崩速度的两倍。损坏区的大小取决于下落的岩体的势能，可以根据发生爆炸的山谷的狭窄程度来放大或缩小。