India, Jan. 31 -- A new paper on the 2023 Glacial Lake Outburst Flood that killed nearly 100 people in the northwestern part of Sikkim has revealed the magnitude of damage a GLOF can trigger. It also found that the surroundings of the South Lhonak lake have been unstable for a long time revealing that such an event was waiting to happen.

The paper, published in journal Science on Friday states that part of the lateral moraine that collapsed into the lake was unstable and was showing maximum displacement of more than 15 m per year between 2016 to 2023, years before the actual collapse. "This finding shows that the surroundings of the South Lhonak Lake have been unstable now for a long time," the authors of the paper said in a statement. ...