Avalanche

col. ashok pratap tanwar

Senior Associate Six Sigma Healthcare, Delhi

WWhat is an avalanche? the rapid fall of snow or stone from the slope of a mountain is called avalanche or avalanche. During an avalanche, snow, rock, soil, and other objects rapidly slide down a mountain.

Avalanches usually begin when objects such as snow or rock on the slopes of a mountain loosen from its surroundings. After this, they rapidly collect more things present under the slope and start falling down. the landslide of rocks or soil is called landslide. there are three types of avalanches: • Rock Avalanche: these consist of large pieces of rock. • Avalanche: Snow is in the form of powder or large pieces. these often occur around glaciers or glaciers. • Debris Avalanche: It consists of a variety of materials, including stone and clay. hoW do avalanches start?

mainly this happens in two ways, first, many times when the snow on the already existing snow on the mountains increases the weight due to snow, the snow starts sliding down, which causes avalanches. Second, in summer, avalanches occur due to the melting of snow due to sunlight i.e. heat. A large and fully developed avalanche can weigh up to 1 million tons or 1 billion kg. While falling down from the mountains, its speed can be more than 120 kilometers per hour to more than 320 kilometers per hour.

Avalanches usually occur in winter and are more likely to occur from December to April.

Why do avalanches happen?

most of the avalanches are spontaneous ie natural, there are many reasons for this, like... • heavy snow • deforestation • Steep slope • earthquake • storm • rock fall the second biggest reason for this is the melting of ice due to heat.

Avalanches are also caused by humans, such as: • Skiing • Snow scooter riders in the snow • Mountaineer

Avalanches are of two kinds - slough and slab. 1. Slough Avalanche: In this, loose snow slides a little far. 2. Slab Avalanche: this is the most dangerous avalanche.

A huge ice slab slides in it.

avalanches can be divided into four different categorie

1. Loose Snow Avalanche:

Loose Snow Avalanche consists of loose snow. • These are examples of slough avalanches, which are followed by fresh snowfall on steep slopes. • The snow of this avalanche does not harden and becomes soft by sunlight. • In this, a very solid snow-pack i.e. a pile of snow cannot be formed. • These come out from a single point and widen as you move down. 3. Powder Snow Avalanche:

Powder Snow Avalanches consist of both soft snow and slabs of ice. • It is a mixture of slough and slab avalanche. • It has snow slabs and wind in the lower part and soft snow in the upper part. • As they move down the slope, they turn into a giant snowball. • Their speed is more than 300 km/h and they can cover long distances.

4. Wet Snow Avalanche:

2. Slab Avalanche:

Slab avalanches are the deadliest avalanches • In this avalanche, large icebergs i.e. huge blocks of ice fall down the slope. • In this, thin ice slabs cause less damage while thicker slabs are fatal. • Loose snow avalanches can also cause slab avalanches. Wet snow avalanches are deadly because of the debris they carry. • These avalanches are initially made up of water and snow. These can be quite dangerous. • Due to friction, they collect debris on the way by moving at a slow speed. • Sometimes their speed can also be fast

are avalanches beneficial?

Avalanches are generally considered to be harmful, but they are often beneficial except for human beings in the grip of them. When an avalanche occurs on the mountains during the rainy season, the snow particles are scattered in the air and fall into glaciers i.e. glaciers as snow. this gives new energy to the glaciers. the avalanche that followed Kedarnath a few days ago is an example of such a beneficial avalanche.

is avalanche prediction possible?

So far scientists are not able to predict when and where an avalanche will occur. they can simply estimate avalanche hazard from snowpack, temperature and wind conditions. Avalanche control teams are stationed in some areas with snow sking.

Patrols in some skiing areas use explosives to stop avalanches. they cannonball any dangerous slopes, to prevent any loose or new snowpack from becoming an avalanche. Special military is deployed for avalanche control in the high mountains of canada and Switzerland. many mountain villages in Switzerland have strong structures to protect houses from the snowpack.

Snow fence installed to protect against avalanche danger in chuenehorn, Switzerland.

What should i do if i get caught in an avalanche?

According to the report of National Geographic, if you get caught in an avalanche, first try to get out of the ice slab or pile. If that's not possible, try to reach a tree and try to come out of the snow as a last resort.

After getting buried in the snow, first try to make some space for breathing and then punch towards the sky, that is, try to break the wall of ice. Actually, when the avalanche stops, the snow freezes like concrete and the person dies due to suffocation. After being trapped in a pile of snow for more than an hour, the chances of survival are greatly reduced.

hoW do We find victims buried in ice With an electronic device- 'avalanche beacon'?

A newspaper photograph of Austrian and Italian soldiers killed in an avalanche on Mount Marmolada, Italy, in 1916.

An Avalanche bacon or Avalanche transceiver is a large mobile-like electronic device. It is worn by every climber. When someone is buried in an avalanche, their searchers turn on the same device and search for the victim. by doing this they get to know the location of the buried person from the signal coming from the beacon. Avalanche beacons have 'beepers' which, when activated, make a continuous sound. With the help of avalanche beacon, the rescuer can locate the victim buried in the snow from a distance of more than 260 feet.

Avalanche beacons are the most effective devices in locating a person buried in snow.

avalanche can destroy entire city

A powerful avalanche can destroy trees, houses, buildings as well as the entire city and kill people on its path. Due to this the power supply may also be interrupted. these can block roads and railway tracks.

On may 31, 1970, a powerful debris avalanche made of stone and snow devastated the Peruvian city of Yange and 10 surrounding villages. 18-20 thousand people died in this accident. 10 thousand soldiers were buried in a single day due to avalanche in World War-I

During the First World War, more than 60,000 Italian and Austrian soldiers were killed in separate avalanches during fighting on the icy mountain passes of the Alps.

Out of these, more than 10 thousand soldiers died due to avalanche on mount marmolada mountain in Italy on only one day i.e. 13 December 1916. this event is known in history as 'White Friday'.

According to some claims, the avalanche was not a natural one, but the armies on both sides fired shells at weak icy heaps to bury each other. then more soldiers died from avalanches than from poisonous gases.

an avalanche collided With trains in america, killing 96 people

In march 1910, two trains were stuck in the city depot due to 9 days of heavy snowfall in Wellington, Washington, USA. the avalanche occurred on 1 march 1910 due to heavy rain accompanied by thunder.

After this, a wall of snow 14 feet high fell towards the city and collided with the trains parked at the depot. Due to this the trains fell 150 feet down in the valley of the river tie. 96 people died in this incident. this is the highest number of avalanche deaths in US history. sshc