August 27, 2026 / 2:00 PM EDT
/ CBS/AP
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The deadly flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists. That may have led to the backed-up water surging downstream with enormous force a few hours later, they suggested.Scientists are still piecing together information from satellite and ground-level data to figure out exactly what happened to cause the flood, which killed hundreds of people and left over a thousand more missing, including foreigners and pilgrims. The U.S. Geological Survey on Wednesday reported a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse that sent debris flowing downstream with catastrophic impact on communities. It said its determination was based on data from nearby seismic stations, long-period seismic waves and satellite imagery."A lower part of a glacier has really come off," said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria who is currently based in Bangladesh. "If you look at the imagery it's like someone cut with a huge knife through the whole lower part and it fell off."
Satellite images show a valley of the Langtang Lirung mountain peak in Nepal on June 25, 2026, and Aug. 26, 2026, when devastating flooding struck the country.
