With the rapid development of water conservancy projects across the world, many hydropower stations are being constructed. This inevitably causes a change of engineering geological environment in the reservoir area in the processing of impoundment, such as the increase/decrease of groundwater level, fluid seepage channel, and rock stress state, which can lead to a series of geological disasters (e.g., reservoir-induced earthquakes, landslides, and surface subsidence). Obviously, these have posed a great threat to the stability of hydropower projects and surrounding areas, restricting the development of water conservancy engineering.

The engineering geological problems caused by reservoir impoundment have not currently been effectively and efficiently solved. In particular, more attention is needed in the study of the dynamic response characteristics of rock mass in the reservoir area with complex geological conditions under the influence of reservoir impoundment. On the one hand, the water-rock interaction in the long-term operation process of the reservoir will lead to the gradual deterioration of the physical-mechanical properties of rock mass, which further causes the decrease of seismic capacity of rock mass in the reservoir bank. On the other hand, the cracks in the reservoir area will close gradually under the stress-hydraulic coupling effects. Frequent earthquakes can occur in this reservoir area, which will also cause cumulative dynamic damage to the rock mass. It can affect the seismic capacity and stability of the reservoir bank slope. Therefore, it is an urgent task to study the dynamic response characteristics of bank slope rock mass caused by reservoir impoundment for ensuring the safe operation of hydropower stations.

The aim of the Special Issue is to gather original research and review articles discussing the inducing mechanism of reservoir earthquakes, the mechanical behaviors of fractured rock mass under multi-field coupling, and bank slope dynamic performance. Submissions should include original theories, experiments, numerical simulations, or case studies that help to understand advances and innovations in this research field.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Case analysis of reservoir-induced earthquake
• New theoretical, numerical, and experimental methods for evaluating the dynamic response of rock mass in the reservoir bank
• Stability evaluation of reservoir slope under complex environment
• The influence of water-rock interaction on the slope stability of reservoir area
• Dynamic response of reservoir bank slope caused by groundwater level change
• Mechanical behavior of fractured rock mass under multi-field coupling
• Analysis of influencing factors of reservoir earthquake disaster
• Monitoring and early warning of reservoir earthquake by new technology and numerical methods
• New measures for controlling geological disasters in reservoir area