On the morning of 26 August, an earthquake shook the glaciers above Gyirong County, Tibet. Seven minutes later a flash flood — reportedly rising ~80 m above river level — tore through the Nepal–China border at Rasuwagadhi and ran the length of the Trishuli river. This page maps where it began, how it unfolded, and where the water went.
At 08:37 NPT a quake hits beneath Gyirong County, Tibet — the glaciated headwaters of the Lhende Khola, about 65 km north of Kathmandu.
A mass of ice and rock — reported ~600 m wide — falls roughly 1,200 m from the glacier into the narrow river gorge below.
ICIMOD experts say the debris briefly blocked the Lhende Khola. Water pooled behind it, then broke through as a single surge.
Seven minutes after the quake the wave hit Rasuwagadhi, then swept Timure and Syaphrubesi, wrecked six power facilities along the Trishuli, and pushed high water all the way to the Narayani in Chitwan.
Breakdown from an earlier count of 72 confirmed deaths; totals have since risen and district figures are still being updated.