The collapse of a mountain peak in Austria causes a huge rockfall

() — Part of a mountaintop in the Austrian state of Tirol has collapsed, causing more than 100,000 cubic meters of rock to fall and causing mudslides.

The rocks began to fall this Sunday from Fluchthorn, a mountain of almost 3,400 meters located in the Silvretta Alps, on the border between Switzerland and Austria, in an incident that state geologists say was caused by thawing permafrost.

No one was injured by the rockslide, according to the alpine police.

In a reconnaissance flight over the affected area, state geologists made an initial assessment of the amount of rock that fell, but say the estimates may be conservative as it will take time to get a more accurate picture.

“This is a relatively large incident, we’re talking about at least 100,000 cubic meters (about 3.5 million cubic feet) of loose rock, probably more than that,” Thomas Figl, a state geologist, said in a video produced by the Tyrolean state government.

Geologists attribute the collapse to the thawing of permafrost, a long-frozen layer of soil and rock. Although usually associated with arctic regions, permafrost is also found in the European Alps.

“We can be relatively sure of the cause of this incident: permafrost. Ice is the glue of mountains, and that ice has been thawing over a long period of time due to climate change. That causes the results we see here.” Figl said.

Melting permafrost can have a destabilizing effect, according to Marcia Phillips, head of the permafrost research group at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Switzerland.

“Water can penetrate deep into rock masses through newly opened crevices, which were previously plugged by permafrost ice,” he told , explaining that this can cause rocks to fracture.

According to Phillips, there is not enough data to know whether rockfalls have increased in recent years, as only large events are typically documented. Scientists rely on information from the public, she added, and many rockfalls occur in remote areas.

But, as human-induced climate change raises global temperatures, causing permafrost to thaw and melting snow and glaciers, rockfalls in this region appear destined to become more frequent.

“Along with rising permafrost temperatures, ice loss and higher groundwater content, we expect increased landslides and rockfalls in the upper Alpine areas where permafrost is found,” he says. Phillips.

Rockfalls can cause enormous disruption to those who live in the shadow of these mountains.

In May, the inhabitants of the Swiss town of Brienz, in the Grisons region, near Davos, found themselves forced to evacuate their houses after being warned that they could be crushed by nearly 2 million cubic meters of rock falling from the mountain above them.

The rocks have not reached the town yet, but the residents cannot return. Christian Gartmann, a member of the crisis management board for the region that includes Brienz, told there has been a drastic increase in activity in recent days, with many rocks falling. “It’s very dangerous, lots of rocks are falling,” he said.