At least 157 people have been killed and 75 others injured in devastating floods in Nepal following what a geophysicist has described as a “massive geophysical event” in the Himalayas.
The flooding has been linked to a landslide in a Himalayan mountain pass that swept away a large glacier or parts of a glacier, triggering a massive release of ice, debris and water into a valley.
Göran Ekström, a geophysicist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told ABC News that the event generated energy equivalent to a magnitude 5.2 earthquake, which was detected by seismographs around the world.
Ekström said similar events had occurred in the Himalayas previously, but described the latest incident as unusually powerful.
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He explained that rocks tumbling down steep mountain slopes generate significant energy and heat, potentially accelerating the melting of the glacier.
The combination of melting ice, rocks and debris then moved into the valley, producing exceptionally high and fast-moving flood waters.
Ekström estimated that the flood waters could have reached between 130 and 160 feet in height and travelled at speeds of up to 44 miles per hour.
He said climate change could be contributing to the increasing frequency and intensity of such events by accelerating the melting of glaciers in mountainous regions.
“Events like this would happen without climate change, but it is possible climate change enhances events like this,” he said.
Ekström added that landslides in mountainous regions were becoming more frequent and that the trend had been linked to glacier melt.
The disaster has also left hundreds of people missing in the affected areas.
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 384 people, comprising 291 foreigners and 93 Nepalis, were reported missing as of Wednesday evening.
Among those missing were at least 47 American tourists, according to the board.
The latest disaster has raised renewed concerns over the vulnerability of communities and tourists in the Himalayan region to climate-related hazards and rapidly changing mountain environments.
Scientists have increasingly warned that rising temperatures are accelerating glacier melt, potentially increasing the risk of floods, landslides and other hazards in high-altitude areas.
Rescue and recovery operations were continuing as authorities worked to establish the full scale of the damage and locate those still missing.
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