A complex series of events in the Swiss Alps culminated in the catastrophic collapse of the Birch glacier, which subsequently obliterated the village of Blatten in the valley below, glaciologists and geoscientists confirmed to AFP on Friday.
Experts had anticipated a significant glacial failure days before Wednesday’s landslide, though the underlying causes extend further back in time. While strong theories exist regarding the triggers and the extent to which climate change contributed to the disaster, these hypotheses await confirmation through scientific analysis.
Christophe Lambiel, a senior lecturer at the University of Lausanne’s Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, explained, “This can be considered as a cascading event, because we have different processes involved.”
The 3,342-meter (10,965-foot) Kleines Nesthorn mountain, situated above the glacier, was already experiencing some instability. Approximately ten days prior to the main event, rockfalls from the mountain accelerated dramatically. Experts initially feared an imminent total collapse within hours. However, the mountain experienced successive rockfalls over several days instead, which ultimately proved to be the more favorable outcome given the circumstances.
