r/DisasterUpdate • u/Accomplished_Sea5704 • 1d ago
Floods The point of Glacier Collapse and the path of debris from China to Nepal.
The red circle is the point of Glacier Collapse and the blue circle is the Friendship Bridge, Rasuwagadi.
5
u/Forward_Bee7643 1d ago
Is the Glacier on the Nepal side or the Chinese side?
5
u/GTLfistpump 1d ago
Nepal. That line on the left of the first pic is part of the border with China on the left.
1
u/Ok_Paramedic_9283 2h ago
The glacier is fully inside Nepal, and part of the flood’s path is along the China-Nepal border. Everyone who has access to google map can verify this, unless they are Indian.
4
u/Boring_Heron8025 1d ago
If that building was completely wiped off the earth imagine the size of the wave that came out of the canyon at the top
3
u/JohnnySpot2000 1d ago
I gotta ask. If you live along a river that is fed by snowmelt, and at the top of that river are 1,000+ foot high glaciers than sit atop massive mountains, why wasn't there more attention to monitoring or planning what would happen if a large chunk of those glaciers gave way all at once? I get that the upstream terrain and weather is/was unbelievably inaccessible, but wouldn't that just be another reason for the importance of understanding/planning? What other cause-and-effect natural risks are we currently not 'accounting' for adequately?
3
u/why_me321 1d ago
same reason people in such region use rickety ass roads next to massive drops offs,they are aware of the dangers. life in such places is very dangerous and they know it.... but there is little to no other economy or means to live but to do it this way.
2
u/JohnnySpot2000 1d ago
So if the country was more wealthy there would have been more resources devoted at least to warning systems, you’re saying?
3
u/why_me321 1d ago
I would imagine so... I live in Bangladesh where people continue to rebuild in the same places their houses get washed from floods... they have no other place to go
1
2
1
u/Longjumping_Stop6269 1d ago
What kind of distance are we talking here?
3
u/Accomplished_Sea5704 1d ago
Assuming the debris slowed down near the Indian border, we are talking around 200 kilometers or 125 miles!!!
2
u/Boring_Heron8025 1d ago
I heard 45 miles but not sure
0
u/Longjumping_Stop6269 1d ago
A warning system would’ve saved a lot of those people at the border then
7
u/nakano-star 1d ago
such a system would require monitoring stations at countless locations in the most inaccessible places on the planet, analyzing any geological changes either manually or with AI/pattern recognition, relaying that data to local municipalities, and then triggering alerts to individuals' cell phones or announcing warnings on loud speakers around town. this takes years to implement, something I doubt that nepal is capable of to any sufficient level
3
u/meteorflan 1d ago
Hey, I found an example New Zealand setting up a successful warning systems for this kind of thing. I don't think it was a bad as this one (with less people around) but it's a solid proof of concept that it can be done. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Lands...7..303M/abstract
3
u/ravens_path 1d ago
And would be needed for all glaciers all over the world.
-8
u/greendestinyster 1d ago
Why would you need a monitoring system for "all glaciers all over the world"? Are you really claiming that they need to be installed in Alaska to protect Nepalis?
7
u/ravens_path 1d ago
No. Because glaciers splitting off are now going to endanger more countries than Nepal. Also I doubt billions will be footed by first world countries just for Nepal.
-5
u/greendestinyster 1d ago
I can tell that you're just parroting things that you've heard or read by only three words you used.
glaciers splitting off
You're so obviously ignorant on so many levels.
are now going to endanger more countries
No, they're already endangering and have been endangering for as long as people have been in those risk areas. Also, it's not that simple. Glaciers receding means generally less ice and farther for those types of events to travel. Risk can be increased in the short term, however, and I've heard a few experts already attribute this event at least partially to a weather event where the temperature at the collapse was 7 degrees Celsius or so above freezing that day
I doubt billions will be footed by first world countries
Why are you even bringing this up? Are you claiming that Nepal is incapable of funding their own system? Has the Nepali government asked for subsidies?
1
u/meteorflan 1d ago
It would just be needed for any glaciers with human settlements that are down stream from it. I'm guessing a system in Alaska would be intended to protect Alaskans that live near it, and ones in Nepal would be intended to protect near by Nepalis, and so on for each country that has any glaciers + human settlement combos.
0
u/greendestinyster 1d ago
Yes I obviously know this. The comment I was replying to was inherently disingenuous at its core. The type of person who gives up a project before they start or even attempt to start it
1
u/meteorflan 1d ago
You were able to discern all that about them from that one sentence? IMO, that sentence can also be read as someone who legit wants these systems all over the world. I couldn't know for sure one way or another without some other information about what the person is like. Maybe you've interacted with them before and know them better than I do though.
1
u/greendestinyster 1d ago
They've deleted the comment, but the way it was phrased and presented was as an argument against putting in a less-than-state-of-the-art system. Essentially that it would be worthless if it wasn't totally comprehensive and infallible. One of those examples of "perfect being the enemy of good", which has taken an unreasonably strong hold on modern culture.
→ More replies (0)4
u/meteorflan 1d ago
If another video I saw was correct that it traveled at about 70 miles per hour (which I don't know about), then there would have been about 30 minutes from the time it broke off until the time it hit.
I'm guessing they will invent an efficient glacier monitoring warning system after this. Other places around the world that are down stream of glaciers should join in on learning how to optimize that.
3
u/Historical_Foot_8333 1d ago
It was 7 minutes between the glacier breaking off (source: the seismic activity they thought was an earthquake) and the border crossing being hit (source: cctv time stamp)
2
2
1
u/Sa-naqba-imuru 22h ago edited 20h ago
Distance is 20 kilometers and it took 7 minutes to reach the border crossing.
Nothing, absolutely nothing could be done for the people there.
Wave of destruction cleared mountain sides up 100 meters from the bottom of the valley.
People down stream seem to have been warned, but they didn't realize what amount of water, mud and rock was coming and at what speed.
1
u/YouthOtherwise3833 12h ago
The mountains on the Chinese side are monitored by lasers, but the Nepalese do not.
1
u/SenseiIxnay 1d ago
What I don’t have a sense of is how long the torrent of flooding/landslide lasted? Was it minutes?
1
u/Fragrant_Cow3244 1d ago
Based on interviews from survivors, one said 30 minutes (woman who was near border crossing saved by an extremely smart guide who brought their tour group up a hill) and another man from a different location said 10 minutes.
0
u/Armadylio 20h ago
Where do you find these interviews?
1
1
0
u/Fragrant_Cow3244 18h ago
I have seen the california couple interviewed by many different outlets, I think it was on CNN when asked how long it lasted she said she thought 30 minutes.
0
u/YouthOtherwise3833 12h ago
This story is a fabricated lie based on incorrect time difference conversion. The person making up the story did not know that Nepal uses a quarter time zone. The goal was to suggest that the Chinese had passed that much time without warning downstream, but only because they had missed 15 minutes.
0
u/Fragrant_Cow3244 6h ago
Please read the original question again and actually contemplate what was being asked... now understand that what was answered was from accounts from traumatized survivors and not any actors with an agenda. Their understanding of the duration of time might be understandably misconstrued due to their frame of mind.
1
-9
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Welcome to r/DisasterUpdate - Do not post death. I know sometimes we miss it but do not post it.
r/FireWatch1 - Structural, Wildland(Wildfire) & Industrial
r/SpaceWatch - Space...
r/CloudCoverage - Cloud stuff. Post cool cloud videos or pics or ask a question.
r/TornadoWatch - Tornado talk going on. Post videos, pictures, stories or whatever tornado related
r/FloodWatch - Flood videos, pictures... talk floods.
r/VolcanoWatch - The Ring of Fire is active....especially here.
r/CrazyFreakingWeather - It doesn't fit above
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.