KOLKA

 

Event description

 

A massive rock/ice avalanche of about 100 Mio m³ volume took place on the northern slope of the Kazbek massif, North Ossetia, Russian Caucasus, on September 20, 2002. The avalanche started as a slope failure, that almost completely entrained Kolka glacier, traveled down the Genaldon valley for 20 km, was stopped at the entrance of the Karmadon gorge, and was finally succeeded by a distal mudflow which continued for another 15 km. The event caused the death of ca. 140 people and massive destruction.�

 

Damage

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The event caused the death of 140 people and destroyed important traffic routes, residential buildings and other infrastructures.

 

Data source

 

- Haeberli,W., Huggel, C., K��b, A., Oswald, S., Polvoj, A., Zotikov, I., and Osokin, N. (2004): 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), 533-546.
- Huggel, C., Zgraggen - Oswald, S., Haeberli, W., K��b, A., Polkvoj, A., Galushkin, I., Evans, S. G. (2005): The 2002 rock / ice avalanche at Kolka / Karmadon, Russian Caucasus: assessment of extraordinary avalanche formation and mobility, and application of QuickBird satellite imagery. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science, 5, 173 - 187.

 

Remarks

 

Several aspects of the event are extraordinary, i.e. the large ice volume involved, the extreme initial distance and particularly the erosion of a valley-type glacier, a process not known so far. The analysis of these aspects is essential for process understanding and worldwide glacial hazard assessments. The erosion of Kolka glacier is not yet well understood. The ice/debris deposits at Karmadon dammed several marginal lakes of up to 5 Mio m³ of water. Potential floods from these lakes were an imminent threat to the downstream areas after the disaster.