The avalanche disaster in Blatten
Zeit
Veranstaltungsort
Innsbruck
Karte auf Google Maps anzeigenThis highly interdisciplinary workshop intends to bring together researchers who were involved in monitoring activities, have processed first results, applied models or made calculations and assessments of the event and the development towards it. Topics can include but are not limited to: geology and rock slope stability, climate change, permafrost (changes), glacier evolution, glacier instability and collapse, short- and long-term drivers of the disaster, avalanche dynamics, hydrologic, engineering or ecologic aspects related to the avalanche deposits. Also welcome are contributions extending beyond technical and natural science aspects, such as questions of habitability (in alpine regions), attachment to place, relocation, re-building, local social community perspective, finance, insurance or risk management and early warning. The workshop expects a number of short presentations (ca. 5 min), followed by sufficient time for discussion and identification of collaboration opportunities.
Background
On 28 of May 2025, the village of Blatten, Swiss Alps, was buried under a massive, ca. 9 million m3 large ice-rock avalanche. The disaster was preceded by continuous and large rock slope failures from Kleines Nesthorn several days before the disaster. The rock and debris deposits from Kleines Nesthorn loaded the underlying Birch glacier up to a point where the glacier detached from its bed and produced a massive avalanche destroying the village of Blatten, extending for 2 km across the whole valley (Lötschental), and subsequently damming the Lonza river which then inundated other parts of the village that were not affected by the avalanche.
The glacier collapse aligns with a number of similar events which have been studied over the past years, starting from the 2002 Kolka glacier collapse and avalanche. Blatten is special because the site was precisely monitored with a suite of technical equipment before, during and after the event, and therefore has produced a wealth of data that is important to study and learn for the future.