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Peer-reviewed study finds China-Nepal flood debris flow hit at 19 m/s

Researchers said the disaster progressed from an ice avalanche into a debris flow, then mudslide, and finally flooding.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Emerging Markets

A peer-reviewed assessment of the floods that struck a China-Nepal border crossing last week found the debris flow moved at a surface velocity of 19 metres per second, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The speed was nearly twice the average sprint speed of Usain Bolt when he set his 100 metres world record, and it was 50 per cent higher than his top speed, the SCMP Economy report said.

The researchers, from the CAS Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, described a chain of cascading events that evolved from an ice avalanche into a debris flow, then into a mudslide, and ultimately into floodwaters, SCMP Economy reported. The study is presented as one of the first peer-reviewed assessments of the disaster.

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