The USGS Logged It as an Earthquake. It Was 1,200 Metres of Mountain Falling.

Climate & Environment Scientists now say the Rasuwa flood began with an ice-and-rock avalanche that fell 1,200 m, dammed a river inside Tibet, and burst hours later — and… By Laxman Rawal · Aug 27, 2026 Read the full story

On the morning of 26 August, seismometers picked up a signal on the Nepal—Tibet border and the US Geological Survey logged it as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake . It was later reclassified as a magnitude 5.2 landslide . ICIMOD reports the water began rising at… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

How it happened, step by step

This was not a glacial lake that quietly filled and overtopped, which is the classic GLOF picture. It was faster and blunter than that. A mass of ice and rock detaches from a glacierised face high above the Lhende Khola, on the Tibetan side of the border. It… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What 1,200 metres of falling mountain looks like

The number is hard to picture, so here it is against things that are easier to hold in your head. Vertical drop, in metres Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Why nobody was warned

A glacial lake that fills over weeks can, in principle, be watched. Nepal has installed early-warning systems on several of them. This was not that. The dam that failed here did not exist the previous morning . It was created by the avalanche and destroyed… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What it means if you are trekking this autumn

Two things, and they pull in opposite directions, so we will give you both. The reassuring part. This was a border-zone event in one river system. The Annapurna and Everest regions are in different catchments entirely and were untouched. Autumn trekking on… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Trekking Annapurna or Everest this autumn?

Both are open and running normally. These are the two we are putting people on for October and November, at the price a pair pays: Annapurna Base Camp — 7 days &middot; from US$730 per person Everest Base Camp — 14 days &middot; from US$1,650 per person Ask… Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Annapurna Base Camp Trek — 7 Days

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