Before and after: Nepal’s green mountainside turned into debris field
Satellite imagery confirms that a glacier collapse in the mountains near the Nepal-Tibet border triggered a massive debris flow. Experts believe the event was caused by a glacier snout breaking off, rather than seismic activity.
Why it matters
This event highlights the increasing instability of high-altitude glaciers due to environmental changes, posing significant risks to downstream communities.
Satellite images taken before and after the deadly flash flood near Nepal’s border with Tibet reveal a striking change in the landscape: stretches of green mountainside visible before the disaster are now covered by a broad expanse of brown debris and sediment.The Planet Labs imagery has provided early clues to how the disaster may have started. Experts examining the pictures believe that the lower section of a glacier broke away high in the mountains and plunged hundreds of metres into the valley below, likely carrying or entraining rock and sediment as it fell.Early reports raised an earthquake as a possible trigger, but the US Geological Survey later said the recorded seismic activity came from the collapse itself rather than a separate earthquake, according to news agency Reuters.Satellite pictures point to the starting pointSikkim University academic Vikram Gupta, an engineering geology specialist, said the satellite evidence indicated that the collapse began…
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