Glacier collapse may have triggered deadly Nepal flash flood, experts say
Preliminary analysis says an ice and rock avalanche temporarily dammed a river before a surge of water, mud and boulders swept downstream.
- On Wednesday, a catastrophic flash flood swept through river valleys in Nepal and the Chinese territory of Tibet, killing at least 31 people with hundreds of tourists reported missing.
- Geologists attribute the surge to an ice avalanche where a massive chunk of ice snapped off a glacier and blocked the Lhende River, causing water to accumulate before breaching downstream.
- Geologist Daniel Shugar noted satellite imagery showed the glacier break occurred about 65 kilometres north of Kathmandu, with ice falling almost 1200 metres. Scientists are investigating a 4.4 magnitude earthquake near the site.
- Nepal's Flood Forecasting Division warned that risks remain in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli areas since the river blockage has not fully drained. Officials urged residents to stay away from rivers.
- Himalayan expert Farooq Azam said the region is "out of balance entirely" due to climate change and population pressure, echoing the 2021 Chamoli disaster that killed about 200 people.
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244 Articles
Scientists find clues in satellite imagery to the cause of catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet
As rescue teams searched Thursday for missing people following catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-China border, Earth scientists reviewed satellite imagery for clues to the cause and assessed the devastation.
At first, experts believed that the cause of the event had been an earthquake, but then they discovered that they were related to a glacial collapse.
A catastrophic flood of water, mud, ice and debris swept through several valleys and localities along the border between Nepal and the Tibet region (China), leaving hundreds dead and more than a thousand missing, including numerous foreign tourists, four of them Spanish. Unlike the usual floods of heavy rains, the origin of this disaster lies in the high summits of the Himalayas and is linked to a massive collapse of a glacier, which triggered a…
After the flood in Nepal the search for the cause continues. Glacier researcher Jacquemart describes how the disaster could have ended and shows how much the people were at the mercy of the flood.
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