Saturday, August 29 2026
Saturday, August 29 2026
MONETABRIEF – The catastrophic debris avalanche and floods in Nepal came from a glacial collapse probably involving bedrock failure, scientist say as they sift through satellite imagery and seismic data.
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs suggests that a 600 metre wide section of glacier and rock (2000 feet) had collapsed and triggered debris avalanche that fell 1,200 meters in to the valley below, blocking a river, Nepal's Kathmandu Post reported.
The temporary dam them burst, turning the river in a churning mass of mud, rocks, melted ice and water that rushed downstream, slamming into bridges, banks building and hydro power stations.
The US Geological Survey initially reported a 4.4 magnitude earthquake, but later said the seismic signals was from the rock and glacier collapse.
The "catastrophic debris flow and flood was likely triggered by rapid slope failure involving a glacier in Lāṅṭāṇ National Park, Nepal, near the border with China," the USGS said.
"This debris flow and flooding travelled nearly 100 km and impacted populated areas downstream along the Lende Kholā and Trishuli̇̄ Kholā rivers, including the Rasuwāgaḍhi̇̄ border post between China and Nepal."
Authorities are still trying to understand the reason for the rock failure. Warming temperatures (global warming) that makes ice melt and seep into cracks in the bedrock is one theory.
Since many of the recent disasters in the area had occurred around monsoons, more water rather than ice falling is also suspected.
This year, El Nino could also have made more water fall during the monsoon rather than ice.
"We are looking at the strongest El Niño in a long time that could also lead to significant regional warming, possibly lower rainfall in the area,” The Kathmandu Post quote Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.
"If the rain had come down as snow rather than rain, the glacier would not be melting."
More than 600 bodies had been recovered by Saturday and over 2,000 are still unaccounted for.
Among them are over 900 staff in hydro power projects and workers in new ones under construction. (Colombo/Aug29/2026)
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