Kolka-Karmadon rock ice slide

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Satellite images, taken before and after the avalanche, shows the vast extent of the disaster. Debris and ice filled the Genaldon Valley from the Kolka Glacier Cirque to the Gates of Karmadon distance of about 11 miles (18 kilometers).

Kolka-Karmadon rock-ice slide occurred on the northern slope of the Kazbek massif in North Ossetia on September 20, 2002 following a partial collapse of the Kolka Glacier. It started on the north-northeast wall of Dzhimarai-Khokh (4780 m above sea level) and seriously affected the valley of Genaldon and Karmadon. The resulting avalanche and mudflow killed more than 120 people (including film crew of 27 people and Russian actor Sergei Bodrov Jr.).

A 500 foot (150 meter) thick chunk of the Kolka Glacier traveled 20 miles (32 km) down the Karmadon Gorge and Koban Valley at over 62 miles per hour (100 km/h). The outflow of mud and debris measured 200 meters wide and 10 to 100 meters thick. Two villages along the gorge were under surveillance as flood waters backed up along the choked rivers. It finally came to rest in the village of Nijni Karmadon burying most of the village in ice, snow, and debris. On September 25, a first round of explosives intended to break up the avalanche flow was unsuccessful in reducing flood waters lapping through the village of Gornaya Saniba.

[edit] Literature

Haeberli, W., Huggel, C., Kääb, A., Oswald, S., Polkvoj, A., Zotikov I. and Osokin, N. The Kolka-Karmadon rock/ice slide of 20 September 2002 - an extraordinary event of historical dimensions in North Ossetia (Russian Caucasus). Journal of Glaciology, 50 (171), 2004, p. 533-546.