During the 2004 Mid-Niigata Prefecture earthquake, thousands of landslides were triggered, among them two large scale rapid landslides (Higashi Takezawa and Terano landslides) occurred within past landslide masses and dammed the river at the toe of the landslides. By using a ring shear apparatus, real earthquake wave loading test and cyclic loading tests were performed on the samples from the two landslides. The results revealed that those sand samples from both landslides can suffer from sliding surface liquefaction phenomenon, while the silt sample from Terano landslide showed no liquefaction failure, indicating that the sliding surfaces of these landslides must have been formed within the sand layer in the past landslides masses.

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In order to study the physical and chemical weathering and their impact on the shear strength of the soil mass, soil samples were collected from different depths ranging from the ground surface to a depth of 15m at two different drainage wells in a Mukohidehara landslide area. These specimens represent the residual soil near the surface, specimen at a depth range of ground water level fluctuation, less weathered specimen from the depth below the ground water level fluctuation, the remolded soil from sliding zone and the specimen below sliding zone. Measurement of Atterberg's limits, particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, slake durability test and X-ray fluorescence tests were carried out. Drained simple shear tests, and drained ring shear tests were also conducted on those specimens to measure their strength characteristics.
Test results showed that fully softened shear strength of the less weathered specimen was very close to the peak shear strength of the specimen from the sliding zone. Test results showed no significant variations of index properties (liquid limit, plasticity index and clay fraction) , mineral compositions and chemical compositions with depth. Residual shear strengths of the specimen also did not vary much with depth. In order to compare these findings with rocks from the other types of formation, specimens were collected from the ground surface, ground water fluctuation zone, less weathered zone and sliding zone of three other landslides sites. The test results on the index properties, shear strength properties, mineralogical analysis, and bulk chemistry, of those landslides were consistent with the findings in Mukohidehara landslide.
The test results of this study suggested that physical weathering plays a major role in the reduction of shear strength of mudstone, in comparison to the chemical weathering in the form of mineralogical and chemical alteration. Test results also suggested that physical weathering by slaking and disintegration is significant at ground water fluctuation zone in those mudstone formations.

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