Earthquake or dam collapse? Blame game between Nepal and China over what caused flash floods that killed 178

Nepal was battered by the flash floods that struck three districts of the country’s central region on Wednesday, claiming at least 178 lives while over 800 remain missing. The flash floods swept away bridges, destroyed power projects and everything that came into its way.

“Thousands of families have lost homes and are missing as of now. We are still trying to ascertain the full extent of the disaster,” Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said on Thursday.

Now, a blame game has erupted between Nepal and China on what caused the devastating flash floods, considered one of the country’s worst disasters in recent years. Several of Nepali journalists alleged that the collapse of a ‘geological disaster dam’ caused the tragedy.

Some even alleged that the tragedy could have been averted had China issued an early warning to Nepal. They claimed that China has “strong monitoring and early warning systems” in border areas regarding Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF).

“Nepal has been addressing the legitimate security concerns of our neighbours. However, it must be said with sadness that our northern neighbour has significantly undermined us. By failing to provide early warning of such a massive disaster, we suffered immense loss of human life,” Parshuram Kaphle, a journalist with Nepal’s Naya Patrika, said on X. 

“We have continually faced crises originating from their territory, while we continue to address all their concerns, necessary or unnecessary. Why must Nepal alone pay the price of one-sided love?” he said in another post.

China rejects Nepali journalists’ claim

However, the Chinese side has dismissed the allegations and called the claims ‘fake news’. In a statement on social media platforms, the Chinese Embassy said making accusations will not help anyone and cooperation is required to save lives.

“An earthquake or earthquake-like glacier collapse occurred on the Nepali side on the morning of August 26, triggering huge mudslides, which caused significant casualties and left people missing on both the Nepali and Chinese sides of the Gyirong-Rasuwagadhi border region,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, experts and analysts had earlier suggested that an earthquake had triggered the flash floods. However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has said the tragedy was caused by a ‘glacial collapse’ and a ‘debris flow’, while adding that a 5.2 magnitude seismic event occurred at 8.37 am local time of Nepal near the border between Nepal and China.

“This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake,” the USGS said in a statement. “Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred.”

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