A large avalanche occurred on Monday night, with a mixture of ice, rock, snow and water, but did not reach the valley floor.
The front of the glacier is now advancing at a rate of 10 metres a day, according to the Lötschental regional command headquarters in its latest update on Tuesday.
A massive cone of debris had formed on the Birch glacier in recent days. Around nine million tonnes of debris are weighing down on the glacier.
A new reconnaissance flight is scheduled for Tuesday, and a second camera is to be installed to provide an oblique view of the glacier. This will enable a more detailed assessment of the movements and appearance of the crevasses on the front of the glacier. A further reconnaissance flight is also planned.
More
More
Nine million kilograms of rubble lie on Birch Glacier
This content was published on
The Birch Glacier above Blatten in the Lötschental valley, canton Valais, is causing the most concern among experts.
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.
Popular Stories
More
Demographics
How retiring baby boomers could crash Swiss property market
This content was published on
“Wait and see" seems to be the position adopted by large Swiss companies in the face of US President Donald Trump's trade policy.
Eurostar plans direct link between London and Geneva
This content was published on
The Eurostar railway company wants to offer a direct connection between Switzerland and Great Britain for the first time in the coming years.
Lucy Liu to receive career award at Locarno Film Festival
This content was published on
The Locarno78 Career Achievement Award goes to American actress Lucy Liu. The award will be presented to her on Thursday 14 August on the Piazza Grande.
Swiss foreign minister travels to Israel and Palestinian territories
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is travelling to the Middle East on Tuesday and Wednesday for official visits to the Palestinian and Israeli authorities.
This content was published on
This year's Zurich city lake crossing is planned for 2 July. Should the weather not play ball or the water be too cold, two alternative dates are planned.
June 14 women’s strike: no equality without pay rises for women
This content was published on
Although pay inequality persists, large companies are ignoring the basic provisions of the Equality Act, Swiss trade union Unia criticised on Tuesday.
Israeli army has committed crimes against humanity, say UN investigators
This content was published on
The Israeli army has committed crimes against humanity of extermination by targeting civilian refugees in schools and religious sites, say UN investigators.
Swiss finance directors against abolishing ‘marriage penalty’
This content was published on
A large majority of cantonal finance directors reject both the popular initiative in favour of individual taxation and the counter-proposal. They favour joint taxation of spouses.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.