The Sikkim flood of October 2023: Drivers, causes, and impacts of a multihazard cascade

IF 45.8 1区综合性期刊 Q1 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Science Pub Date : 2025-01-30 DOI:10.1126/science.ads2659

Ashim Sattar, Kristen L. Cook, Shashi Kant Rai, Etienne Berthier, Simon Allen, Sonam Rinzin, Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries, Wilfried Haeberli, Pradeep Kushwaha, Dan H. Shugar, Adam Emmer, Umesh K. Haritashya, Holger Frey, Praful Rao, Kori Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, Prabhakar Rai, Rajeev Rajak, Faruk Hossain, Christian Huggel, Martin Mergili, Mohd. Farooq Azam, Simon Gascoin, Jonathan L. Carrivick, Louie Elliot Bell, Rakesh Kumar Ranjan, Irfan Rashid, Anil. V. Kulkarni, Dave Petley, Wolfgang Schwanghart, C. Scott Watson, Nazimul Islam, Moushumi Das Gupta, Stuart N. Lane, Shahid Younis Bhat

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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 pivotal for informing policy development, enhancing early warning systems (EWS), and spurring paradigm shifts in GLOF risk management strategies in the Himalaya and other mountain environments.

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2023年10月锡金洪水：多灾种级联的驱动因素、原因和影响

2023年10月3日，印度锡金喜马拉雅地区发生了多灾种级联，1470万立方米的冻结侧冰碛塌陷到南Lhonak湖，产生了约20米的海啸样冲击波，冰碛破裂，排水约5000万立方米。随后的冰湖溃决洪水（GLOF）侵蚀了约2.7亿立方米的沉积物，淹没了包括蒂斯塔河沿岸水电设施在内的基础设施。这一事件的自然规模以及对人类和经济的影响促使人们迫切思考气候变化和人类活动在加剧此类灾害中的作用。对多灾种演变的深入了解对于为政策制定提供信息、加强早期预警系统（EWS）以及促进喜马拉雅和其他山地环境中GLOF风险管理战略的范式转变至关重要。

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来源期刊

Science 综合性期刊-综合性期刊

CiteScore

61.10

自引率

0.90%

发文量

审稿时长

2.1 months

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