Three dimensional evaluation of rockfall areas in Kahramanmaraş province and solution suggestions

Many rockfall cases occurred due to two major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on 06.02.2023. In this study, the source areas where these rockfall events occurred were determined. The digitization process was completed by transferring 1040 source field data from different locations to the geographic information systems (GIS) environment. Thus, the source data set that will serve as the basis for the entire study was prepared. Using the topographic and thematic maps of Kahramanmaraş Province, which is the study area, the parameter maps to be included in the analysis were produced in the GIS environment. The relationships of the prepared source area data set with these parameters were evaluated in the GIS environment. Kahramanmaraş Province Susceptibility Map was created by taking into account the parameter subgroups where rockfall events occur most frequently. Sensitive, high sensitive and very high sensitive areas and potential rockfall source areas were compared and the final source area map was obtained. With three-dimensional (3D) analyzes performed at 20 points, energy line angles depending on the range distances of rock blocks in a certain volume range were determined. According to the reference energy line angle values, propagation zones were determined in the conefall software using the cone propagation method. The relationship between the energy distributions obtained in three-dimensional analyzes and the distribution zones covering the analysis points was examined, according to these energy data, improvement suggestions were made for improvement designs as a provincial-scale approach, and the vulnerability of Kahramanmaraş Province to the rockfall disaster was interpreted.