A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya

D. H. Shugar; M. Jacquemart; D. Shean; S. Bhushan; K. Upadhyay; A. Sattar; W. Schwanghart; S. McBride; M. Van Wyk de Vries; M. Mergili; A. Emmer; C. Deschamps-Berger; Mark McDonnell; R. Bhambri; S. Allen; E. Berthier; J. L. Carrivick; J. J. Clague; M. Dokukin; S. A. Dunning; H. Frey; S. Gascoin; U. K. Haritashya; C. Huggel; A. Kääb; J. S. Kargel; J. L. Kavanaugh; P. Lacroix; David Petley; S. Rupper; M. F. Azam; S. J. Cook; A. P. Dimri; Mats Eriksson; Daniel Farinotti; J. Fiddes; K. R. Gnyawali; Sandy Harrison; M. Jha; M. Koppes; Abhishek Kumar; S. Leinss; U. Majeed; S. Mal; A. Muhuri; J. Noetzli; F. Paul; I. Rashid; K. Sain; Jakob Steiner; F. Ugalde; C. S. Watson; Matt Westoby

doi:10.1126/science.abh4455

A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya

D. H. Shugar^*, M. Jacquemart, D. Shean, S. Bhushan, K. Upadhyay, A. Sattar, W. Schwanghart, S. McBride, M. Van Wyk de Vries, M. Mergili, A. Emmer, C. Deschamps-Berger, Mark McDonnell, R. Bhambri, S. Allen, E. Berthier, J. L. Carrivick, J. J. Clague, M. Dokukin, S. A. DunningH. Frey, S. Gascoin, U. K. Haritashya, C. Huggel, A. Kääb, J. S. Kargel, J. L. Kavanaugh, P. Lacroix, David Petley, S. Rupper, M. F. Azam, S. J. Cook, A. P. Dimri, Mats Eriksson, Daniel Farinotti, J. Fiddes, K. R. Gnyawali, Sandy Harrison, M. Jha, M. Koppes, Abhishek Kumar, S. Leinss, U. Majeed, S. Mal, A. Muhuri, J. Noetzli, F. Paul, I. Rashid, K. Sain, Jakob Steiner, F. Ugalde, C. S. Watson, Matt Westoby

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography and Environmental Sciences Department

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Abstract

On 7 Feb 2021, a catastrophic mass flow descended the Ronti Gad, Rishiganga, and Dhauliganga valleys in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India, causing widespread devastation and severely damaging two hydropower projects. Over 200 people were killed or are missing. Our analysis of satellite imagery, seismic records, numerical model results, and eyewitness videos reveals that ~27x10 m of rock and glacier ice collapsed from the steep north face of Ronti Peak. The rock and ice avalanche rapidly transformed into an extraordinarily large and mobile debris flow that transported boulders >20 m in diameter, and scoured the valley walls up to 220 m above the valley floor. The intersection of the hazard cascade with downvalley infrastructure resulted in a disaster, which highlights key questions about adequate monitoring and sustainable development in the Himalaya as well as other remote, high-mountain environments. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021, American Association for the Advancement of Science.]

Original language	English
Article number	eabh4455
Pages (from-to)	300-306
Number of pages	15
Journal	Science
Volume	373
Issue number	6552
Early online date	10 Jun 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh4455
Publication status	Published - 16 Jul 2021

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Shugar, D. H., Jacquemart, M., Shean, D., Bhushan, S., Upadhyay, K., Sattar, A., Schwanghart, W., McBride, S., de Vries, M. V. W., Mergili, M., Emmer, A., Deschamps-Berger, C., McDonnell, M., Bhambri, R., Allen, S., Berthier, E., Carrivick, J. L., Clague, J. J., Dokukin, M., ... Westoby, M. (2021). A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya. Science, 373(6552), 300-306. Article eabh4455. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh4455

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title = "A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya",

abstract = "On 7 Feb 2021, a catastrophic mass flow descended the Ronti Gad, Rishiganga, and Dhauliganga valleys in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India, causing widespread devastation and severely damaging two hydropower projects. Over 200 people were killed or are missing. Our analysis of satellite imagery, seismic records, numerical model results, and eyewitness videos reveals that ~27x10 m of rock and glacier ice collapsed from the steep north face of Ronti Peak. The rock and ice avalanche rapidly transformed into an extraordinarily large and mobile debris flow that transported boulders >20 m in diameter, and scoured the valley walls up to 220 m above the valley floor. The intersection of the hazard cascade with downvalley infrastructure resulted in a disaster, which highlights key questions about adequate monitoring and sustainable development in the Himalaya as well as other remote, high-mountain environments. [Abstract copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021, American Association for the Advancement of Science.]",

author = "Shugar, {D. H.} and M. Jacquemart and D. Shean and S. Bhushan and K. Upadhyay and A. Sattar and W. Schwanghart and S. McBride and {de Vries}, {M. Van Wyk} and M. Mergili and A. Emmer and C. Deschamps-Berger and Mark McDonnell and R. Bhambri and S. Allen and E. Berthier and Carrivick, {J. L.} and Clague, {J. J.} and M. Dokukin and Dunning, {S. A.} and H. Frey and S. Gascoin and Haritashya, {U. K.} and C. Huggel and A. K{\"a}{\"a}b and Kargel, {J. S.} and Kavanaugh, {J. L.} and P. Lacroix and David Petley and S. Rupper and Azam, {M. F.} and Cook, {S. J.} and Dimri, {A. P.} and Mats Eriksson and Daniel Farinotti and J. Fiddes and Gnyawali, {K. R.} and Sandy Harrison and M. Jha and M. Koppes and Abhishek Kumar and S. Leinss and U. Majeed and S. Mal and A. Muhuri and J. Noetzli and F. Paul and I. Rashid and K. Sain and Jakob Steiner and F. Ugalde and Watson, {C. S.} and Matt Westoby",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1126/science.abh4455",

language = "English",

volume = "373",

pages = "300--306",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6552",

}

Shugar, DH, Jacquemart, M, Shean, D, Bhushan, S, Upadhyay, K, Sattar, A, Schwanghart, W, McBride, S, de Vries, MVW, Mergili, M, Emmer, A, Deschamps-Berger, C, McDonnell, M, Bhambri, R, Allen, S, Berthier, E, Carrivick, JL, Clague, JJ, Dokukin, M, Dunning, SA, Frey, H, Gascoin, S, Haritashya, UK, Huggel, C, Kääb, A, Kargel, JS, Kavanaugh, JL, Lacroix, P, Petley, D, Rupper, S, Azam, MF, Cook, SJ, Dimri, AP, Eriksson, M, Farinotti, D, Fiddes, J, Gnyawali, KR, Harrison, S, Jha, M, Koppes, M, Kumar, A, Leinss, S, Majeed, U, Mal, S, Muhuri, A, Noetzli, J, Paul, F, Rashid, I, Sain, K, Steiner, J, Ugalde, F, Watson, CS & Westoby, M 2021, 'A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya', Science, vol. 373, no. 6552, eabh4455, pp. 300-306. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh4455

TY - JOUR

T1 - A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya

AU - Shugar, D. H.

AU - Jacquemart, M.

AU - Shean, D.

AU - Bhushan, S.

AU - Upadhyay, K.

AU - Sattar, A.

AU - Schwanghart, W.

AU - McBride, S.

AU - de Vries, M. Van Wyk

AU - Mergili, M.

AU - Emmer, A.

AU - Deschamps-Berger, C.

AU - McDonnell, Mark

AU - Bhambri, R.

AU - Allen, S.

AU - Berthier, E.

AU - Carrivick, J. L.

AU - Clague, J. J.

AU - Dokukin, M.

AU - Dunning, S. A.

AU - Frey, H.

AU - Gascoin, S.

AU - Haritashya, U. K.

AU - Huggel, C.

AU - Kääb, A.

AU - Kargel, J. S.

AU - Kavanaugh, J. L.

AU - Lacroix, P.

AU - Petley, David

AU - Rupper, S.

AU - Azam, M. F.

AU - Cook, S. J.

AU - Dimri, A. P.

AU - Eriksson, Mats

AU - Farinotti, Daniel

AU - Fiddes, J.

AU - Gnyawali, K. R.

AU - Harrison, Sandy

AU - Jha, M.

AU - Koppes, M.

AU - Kumar, Abhishek

AU - Leinss, S.

AU - Majeed, U.

AU - Mal, S.

AU - Muhuri, A.

AU - Noetzli, J.

AU - Paul, F.

AU - Rashid, I.

AU - Sain, K.

AU - Steiner, Jakob

AU - Ugalde, F.

AU - Watson, C. S.

AU - Westoby, Matt

PY - 2021/7/16

Y1 - 2021/7/16

N2 - On 7 Feb 2021, a catastrophic mass flow descended the Ronti Gad, Rishiganga, and Dhauliganga valleys in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India, causing widespread devastation and severely damaging two hydropower projects. Over 200 people were killed or are missing. Our analysis of satellite imagery, seismic records, numerical model results, and eyewitness videos reveals that ~27x10 m of rock and glacier ice collapsed from the steep north face of Ronti Peak. The rock and ice avalanche rapidly transformed into an extraordinarily large and mobile debris flow that transported boulders >20 m in diameter, and scoured the valley walls up to 220 m above the valley floor. The intersection of the hazard cascade with downvalley infrastructure resulted in a disaster, which highlights key questions about adequate monitoring and sustainable development in the Himalaya as well as other remote, high-mountain environments. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021, American Association for the Advancement of Science.]

AB - On 7 Feb 2021, a catastrophic mass flow descended the Ronti Gad, Rishiganga, and Dhauliganga valleys in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, India, causing widespread devastation and severely damaging two hydropower projects. Over 200 people were killed or are missing. Our analysis of satellite imagery, seismic records, numerical model results, and eyewitness videos reveals that ~27x10 m of rock and glacier ice collapsed from the steep north face of Ronti Peak. The rock and ice avalanche rapidly transformed into an extraordinarily large and mobile debris flow that transported boulders >20 m in diameter, and scoured the valley walls up to 220 m above the valley floor. The intersection of the hazard cascade with downvalley infrastructure resulted in a disaster, which highlights key questions about adequate monitoring and sustainable development in the Himalaya as well as other remote, high-mountain environments. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2021, American Association for the Advancement of Science.]

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109767485&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1126/science.abh4455

DO - 10.1126/science.abh4455

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 373

SP - 300

EP - 306

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6552

M1 - eabh4455

ER -

A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya

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