Glacial collapse triggered Nepal flash floods, not earthquake: USGS

The Nepal flash floods were triggered by a glacial collapse and not by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake as reported earlier, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

The USGS said additional analysis of the long-period seismic waves indicated that the tremors were generated by a glacial collapse and debris flow.

The flash floods originating in Tibet on Wednesday left a trail of death and destruction in Rasuwa and Dhading districts of Nepal, killing 162 people and leaving 750, including 133 Indian nationals, missing.

"This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake.

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," the USGS said in an update to its note on the event.

It also upgraded the magnitude of the seismic event to 5.2 from the 4.4 assessed earlier.

"The USGS determined that the seismic even