Scientists Analyze Deposit of Blatten Landslide

BLATTEN, SWITZERLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Excavator operators take a break while clearing mangled debris, including the remains of a cow shed, from the May landslide on September 11, 2025 at Blatten, Switzerland. On May 28, following weeks of smaller rockfalls, millions of cubic meters of rock tumbled down from Kleines Nesthorn mountain onto the Birch Glacier, sending a greater mix of rock, ice and mud crashing into the Loetschental valley. Much of the village of Blatten as well as two nearby hamlets were obliterated, both by the landslide and the following accumulation of water from the blocked Lonza river. Authorities had already evacuated Blatten and settlements farther up the valley in the week before, nevertheless one shepherd was killed. Today the mountainside remains unstable with daily rumblings of falling rock. Scientists hypothesise the local geology, melting permafrost and the glacier‘s instability likely contributed to the landslide's devastating impact. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)