The Sikkim flood of October 2023: Drivers, causes, and impacts of a multihazard cascade
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar · Institut des Sciences de la Terre · +29 more institutions
Abstract
On 3 October 2023, a multihazard cascade in the Sikkim Himalaya, India, was triggered by 14.7 million cubic meters of frozen lateral moraine collapsing into South Lhonak Lake. The impact generated an ~20-meter tsunami-like impact wave, which breached the moraine and drained ~50 million cubic meters of the lake's water. The ensuing glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) eroded ~270 million cubic meters of sediment, which overwhelmed infrastructure, including hydropower installations along the Teesta River. The physical scale and human and economic impacts of this event prompt urgent reflection on the role of climate change and human activities in exacerbating such disasters. Insights into multihazard evolution are…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 103.72
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 112
Authors
34- ASAshim SattarCorresponding
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar
- KCKristen Cook
Institut des Sciences de la Terre, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Grenoble Alpes
- SKShashi Kant
Central University of Jammu
- ÉBÉtienne Berthier
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
- SASimon Allen
University of Geneva, University of Zurich
Topics & keywords
- Hydropower
- Flood myth
- Moraine
- Climate change
- Water resource management
- Geography
- Hydrology (agriculture)
- Environmental science
- Climate action
Funding
- DODepartment of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, IndiaAward: 2020.
- MOMinistry of Earth Sciences
- CNCentre National d’Etudes Spatiales
- INIsaac Newton TrustAward: G122390
- AIAlberta Innovates
- NSNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of CanadaAwards: DG-2020, DG-2020-04207, 2020-04207, 04207