Flash floods that struck Nepal, often referred to as the Himalayan nation, have devastated hundreds of families, leaving behind immense grief and destruction. The sudden swelling of the Bhote Koshi river inundated several districts across the country. While the disaster was initially attributed to an earthquake in the snow-capped mountains, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has now revealed that the calamity was actually caused by the bursting of a glacial lake in the Himalayas.
The US agency had earlier estimated that a 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the Gosainkunda region of Tibet at around 8:37 am on Wednesday, triggering a massive landslide from the mountain range along the Tibet-Nepal border. However, the USGS has since revised its assessment. According to the agency, the tremors recorded were not from an earthquake at all. Following prolonged analysis of the seismic waves, experts concluded that the vibrations were instead caused by a landslide. This landslide, in turn, caused a glacial lake to burst, sending huge chunks of ice and rock crashing into the Lende river. The swollen Lende river then caused a sudden and massive surge of floodwater into the Bhote Koshi river.
American experts further noted that satellite imagery showed large volumes of ice and rock debris breaking away from the mountainous terrain, corroborating their findings on the sequence of events that led to the disaster.
Meanwhile, the German Research Centre for Geosciences also conducted its own analysis of the floods. The institute stated that it had detected tremors of 4.4 magnitude approximately seven minutes before the flooding occurred, after which the ferocious floodwaters swept through Nepal’s districts.
The disaster has claimed at least 157 lives so far, with hundreds still reported missing. A majority of those affected are foreign nationals. Reports indicate that over 140 people from India were swept away in the floods.
Tibet, too, bore the brunt of the flood’s severity, with three deaths reported in the region and more than 553 people declared missing, according to official figures.