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This pair of false-color images (top) from the
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER),
flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite, shows Mt. Kazbek in Southern Russia
before and after the recent collapse of the Kolka Glacier. On September
20, a collapse of a hanging glacier from the slope of Mt. Dzhimarai-Khokh
onto the Kolka Glacier triggered an avalanche of ice and debris that went
over the Maili Glacier terminus then slid more than 15 miles (24 km). The
avalanche buried small villages in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia,
killing dozens of people.
The top left scene was acquired on October
3, 2001, and the top right scene was acquired on September 27, 2002. The
long, dark grey streak running upward through the center of the scene shows
the gorge that was overrun by ice and debris from the avalanche. The deep
reds show vegetated land surfaces, grey areas are bare rock, and white
shows ice-covered lands.
The bottom image was also acquired on September
27, 2002, by the Terra MODIS sensor. This scene shows the location of the
landslide relative to distinguishing features in the larger region. Click
to read more about the Kolka Glacier collapse