First scientific article on the 26 August catastrophe in the Himalaya

Following a rapid, joint effort, and a fast review process, our freshly published paper is the first peer-reviewed study reconstructing and characterizing the cascading catastrophes that have hit the Himalaya on August 26th, 2026. The main event was a rock (and some ice) fall on the north flank of Tsangbu Ri mountain, of about 100 million m3 volume, which triggered an extreme flash flood along the Trishuli River. Seismometers at 100 km distance from the river vibrated for hours, and the event was detected all around the globe. Full details are in our paper published in Seismica today by Adhikari, Subedi et al.

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The estimated volume fits the amount of rock and ice seen on a July 1st satellite photo, and the scarp of the August 26th mass movement (in red). Background image source: Airbus, CNES, GoogleEarth.