A massive collapse occurred on the Birch Glacier in Switzerland around 3:30pm on May 28, destroying several homes in the village of Blatten.
According to France 24, the collapse had been expected for several days. Video footage captured the moment of failure, showing a massive cloud barreling down the mountain face into the valley below.
Tuesday night saw an increase in activity on the glacier, intensifying into Wednesday. Glaciers throughout the Alps mountain range have seen their glaciers retreat over recent years in reaction to warming weather.
Rock slides had been loading the glacier with a substantial overburden of rock debris over the past week, destabilizing the glacier. A large rock mass adjacent to the slides had also shifted, pointing towards large-scale instability. The below video was released before the large collapse, analyzing why these slides were happening and how glacially-sculpted landscapes wind up so unstable.
Glaciers in Switzerland melted as much between 2022 and 2023 as between 1960 and 1990, shedding about 10% of their volume during the time frame. Switzerland’s glaciers saw a snow coverage at the end of this winter 13% below the 2010-2020 average.
