Swiss village buried after glacier collapse

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GENEVA, Switzerland - A large section of the mountain village of Blatten in southern Switzerland was buried under an avalanche of ice, mud and rocks after a massive glacier gave way on Wednesday.

Photos from the disaster zone showed feet of debris sliding down the mountainside, with most of the village submerged beneath the debris field. 

Only a few rooftops remained visible following the collapse of the Birch Glacier, which had shown signs of instability in recent weeks.

Engineers had been monitoring the glacier and issued evacuation notices more than a week before the collapse, which prevented a greater tragedy.

According to seismologists, the force of the avalanche was equivalent to a magnitude 3.1 earthquake.

The Swiss government was closely monitoring the situation for any additional slides, which could force more additional evacuations.

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According to Swiss government estimates, Blatten is home to a population of only around 300 people, but that figure typically swells during the busy ski season, which runs annually from December into early April.

Emergency crews are actively monitoring the disaster zone for any missing people, but a government official said as of Wednesday evening there were no reported injuries from the event. 

"It's terrible to lose your home. I feel for the residents of Blatten," Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter said in a statement.

The Alps are home to thousands of glaciers, but many are retreating and melting, according to a recent NASA survey. 

The range’s largest ice sheet is known as the Great Aletsch Glacier and is located in southwestern Switzerland. 

According to the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, the giant glacier has retreated by more than 4,300 feet since 1984.

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Melting glaciers and the depletion of sea ice are widely considered to be major contributors to rising sea levels and shifting climates across the globe. 

NASA reports that Antarctica alone loses approximately 150 billion tons of ice each year, while melting in Greenland results in 270 billion tons of annual ice loss.

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