Effects of heavy rainfall on the slope stability – A case study on Imogiri Cemetery: The graveyard complex of Mataram Royal Kings

Rainfall is the most common cause of landslides in Indonesia. On March 17, 2019, a landslide occurred in the Imogiri Cemetery, Mataram Royal Kings Graveyard Complex. It was expected to have been triggered by heavy rainfall of 148 mm d–1 intensity. This research aims to determine the effect of rainfall on the slope stability on the landslide at the Imogiri Cemetery. The study was carried out by slope stability modelling using Geostudio software. Rainfall information and soil characteristics data obtained from testing soil samples in the Soil Mechanics Laboratory, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, were used as input on the software. The output of the analysis is the factor of safety (FS) value, defined as the ratio of the shear strength to the shear stress. Without the rains, the FS value is about 2.44, which means the slope stability is stable. After heavy rainfall, the FS value decreased to 1.209 at the end of the simulation, which indicates happen the slope instability. Based on the simulation, the FS value depends on the volume of water content and hydraulic conductivity of the soil. Result of this study shows that heavy rainfall can trigger slope instability in the Imogiri Cemetery