Satellite images show bedrock and glacier collapsed on Nepal-China border, then rivers flooded

Satellite images revealed where people lived and how debris from a disaster buried villages near the Nepal-China border. Rescue teams searched for survivors after catastrophic flooding, which killed hundreds in Nepal and Tibet, with many more missing, including foreigners and pilgrims. Geomorphologists Kristen Cook and Dan Shugar noted that initial images were clouded, but clearer images showed part of a glacier had broken off from Langtang Lirung peak near the border with Tibet.

The bedrock underneath the glacier collapsed, taking the massive chunk of ice down and sending boulders and ice into the valley. The debris buried villages downstream, and the Trishuli River surged, overtopping its banks and filling with sediment. Towns and villages on the river banks were submerged in debris and mud, with some buildings still visible.

The flooding left a wasteland, requiring many years to recover. Experts believe this is the largest glacier flood they have seen, and they attribute it to climate change, as warming trends have destabilized permafrost and high-altitude rock and ice.