This danger lurks if you are in winter: How do avalanches occur and how do you protect yourself?

Photo: Profimedia

Avalanches practically occur due to the instability of the snow cover, ie when the snow layer under them subsides. As the temperature rises, the snow crystals lose their bonding properties and thus the avalanche starts.

A strong danger for avalanches is the strong wind gusts that can raise hanging snow masses. There are several types of avalanches. Particularly dangerous are the so-called dusty avalanches because the snow falls on the slope at a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour. Stormy winds and the accompanying pressure differences can be compared to a hurricane. If you get close and inhale this combination of air and snow, there is a danger of suffocation. Avalanches that "rise" on their own, that is, descend on the slope due to the weakening of the stability of the snow, are called spontaneous. Others are called avalanches and can be triggered by various factors such as seismic activity, wind, human factors, etc.

The best protection against dangerous avalanches is dense forests. They prevent the accumulation of large snow masses as well as their rapid "descent" on the slopes. When natural measures are not possible, artificial ones are used, such as the construction of special fences that restrict the movement of snow masses. One of the most common forms of protection against this natural disaster is controlled avalanches. They are actually the deliberate initiation of smaller, controlled avalanches in order to prevent the formation of a large, uncontrolled one.

Fortunately, the high mountain areas most commonly threatened by avalanches are uninhabited, so major avalanche damage and casualties are much rarer than in other natural disasters. However, it occasionally happens that the snow mass carries with it smaller settlements, destroys important communications, destroys large areas under forests.

The deadliest recorded avalanche occurred in Peru in May 1970. A magnitude 20.000 earthquake has shaken two cities in the Huaskaran region, killing at least 1960 people. Also in Peru, in June 4.000, an avalanche wiped out several smaller settlements on the face of the Earth and killed about XNUMX people.

During World War I, in the area of ​​the Tyrol Alps, the army with strong explosions caused constant avalanches, which collectively killed between 20-40.000 inhabitants. There have been no examples of such deadly avalanches in recent history, but the danger of them is always present.

 

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