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Rasuwa flood: timeline
What happened and when, from the seismic signal recorded minutes before the river rose to the most recent bulletin, including how the death toll moved through the first two days.
Pieced together from Nepal Police bulletins, NDRRMA situation reports, local officials and named newsrooms. Times are Nepal time (NPT, UTC+05:45) and some are approximate. Where a source gives "morning" rather than a clock time, that is what is printed here rather than a guess.
Hour by hour
Seismic stations register a signal near the Nepal-Tibet border. The USGS first logs it as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. It later revises that assessment: the signal was a magnitude 5.2 glacial collapse, not a tectonic earthquake.
The Bhote Koshi rises suddenly where it crosses into Nepal. It was not raining in the Rasuwa catchment, so ordinary rainfall is ruled out as the cause.
Timure, Syabrubesi, the Rasuwagadhi customs and border crossing and around a dozen riverside settlements in northern Rasuwa take the earliest and heaviest impact. Nine bank branches are swept away. The Syabrubesi helipad is destroyed, slowing rescue by air.
The surge moves through Betrawati and Trishuli Bazar in Nuwakot, Galchhi and Dhunge Bazaar in Dhading, and past Muglin into the Narayani river system.
Counts move fast and disagree: the Prime Minister’s Office reports 95 dead, NDRRMA 72, and by late evening around 160 with 157 bodies recovered. The government releases Rs 1 billion into the disaster relief fund. Physical Infrastructure Minister Sunil Lamsal puts road and bridge damage at about Rs 200 billion, and calls the figure preliminary.
Nepal Police put the toll at 165 dead and list 826 people missing in Nepal, including 466 missing foreign travellers. Most were heading for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage route through Tibet.
China’s Ministry of Water Resources reports that a new barrier lake has formed upstream inside Tibet, near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and the Purepu Tsangpo, holding around 2 million cubic metres of water. Chinese state media warn it could break.
Nepal Police raise the toll to 270 as searches reach areas that had been cut off.
Nepal Police put the confirmed toll at 289 dead. The Armed Police Force reports 121 bodies recovered from the Narayani alone. NDRRMA reports 113 people rescued, 88 of them Nepali citizens.
The Nepal Electricity Authority puts hydropower damage at 14 projects and about 748 MW. The Department of Roads confirms the whole 42 km Betrawati-Rasuwagadhi road is destroyed at multiple points. India opens the Valmikinagar Barrage on the Gandak as a precaution and prepares to move 10,000 to 12,000 people downstream.
NDRRMA satellite imagery analysis finds a new lake, about 0.11 square kilometres, has formed on the Lhende Khola roughly 18 km upstream of the Rasuwagadhi border crossing. The authority says the natural dam it has created is of uncertain stability.
Nepal Police put the confirmed toll at 359 dead, spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told the Kathmandu Post. Bodies recovered by district: Chitwan 132, Nawalparasi East 82, Dhading 33, Gorkha 30, Nuwakot 28, Tanahun 22, Rasuwa 17, Nawalparasi West 15.
NDRRMA says 910 people remain out of contact, up from 826 that morning. Nepal Police have not published a matching revised missing count alongside the newer toll.
Nepal's Tourism Board issues its own situation update putting travellers missing at 644, 517 of them foreign nationals, up from the 579 travellers on the earlier Nepal Police list. Police have not issued a matching revised total.
Nepal Police raise the confirmed toll to 389 dead and report 466 injured. Bodies recovered by district: Chitwan 137, Nawalparasi East 87, Dhading 33, Gorkha 32, Nuwakot 28, Tanahun 28, Rasuwa 17, Nawalparasi West 27.
China's Ministry of Water Resources warns that a barrier lake near the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo, close to the Nepal border, is overflowing and holds about 2 million cubic metres of water. It expects another 3 million cubic metres to flow in over the next three days, putting the lake at high risk of breaching in that window.
Nepal turns down offers of search and rescue teams from India, China, the US, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the Kathmandu Post reports, saying its own army and police can handle the operation and asking instead for cash through the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund. The finance ministry says the fund took in Rs 273.3 million in its first six hours.
The Kathmandu Post reports the barrier lake near the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo has breached. NDRRMA says water levels in the Bhotekoshi surged as a result, and helicopters carry out aerial reconnaissance over Rasuwa to assess the damage downstream.
Nepal Police restate a fuller district breakdown alongside the 489 toll: Chitwan 186, Nawalparasi East 112, Gorkha 44, Dhading 40, Nuwakot 37, Tanahun 29, Nawalparasi West 28, Rasuwa 13, which adds up to 489.
Chinese state media report rescue operations in Tibet have resumed after water levels at the barrier lake dropped slightly, ABC News reports. NDRRMA separately tells ABC News that 3,253 people have now been rescued by helicopter across the flood zone. ABC News, citing Nepal Police, reports the toll again at 489, unchanged since the midday bulletin.
China's state media report a new glacial slip in the Himalayan border region, sending about 50,000 cubic metres of ice and debris into the barrier lake, ABC News reports. The Nepali Army says its helicopters have rescued 706 people, including 40 foreign nationals, as of 3pm, Onlinekhabar reports.
The Kathmandu Post reports that Nepal’s government has not confirmed a dam or lake collapse on the China side. Government spokesperson and Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel says Nepal has only received word that glaciers broke and sent water mixed with debris over the top, not that a dam failed, and that China has indicated there is no immediate major threat. The two accounts, a reported breach and the government’s more cautious version, have not been reconciled.
NDRRMA raises the confirmed toll to 538 and repeats its missing count of 977, unchanged, ABC News reports.
Nepal Police raise the confirmed toll further, to 547, and report 1,473 people injured in Nepal, up from 466 a day earlier, ABC News reports. The higher police figure comes within minutes of NDRRMA’s 538.
China's state media raise the Tibet side death toll to 5, from 3, ABC News reports. The missing count on the China side holds at 558.
The Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation says the camp area of the Upper Trishuli-3B hydropower project in Nuwakot has been completely buried under landslide debris. It says rescuing people there is the top priority and that rescue equipment has been flown in, Onlinekhabar reports.
ABC News reports the barrier lake has grown rather than drained: China's Ministry of Water Resources put it at about 2 million cubic metres on Thursday morning, and by Friday evening it had grown to about 2.5 million cubic metres, with more water still forecast to flow in over the weekend.
Nepal Police raise the confirmed toll to 553 in a Friday evening bulletin posted on the force’s own website, with a district breakdown that sums to the new total: Chitwan 222, Nawalparasi East 134, Gorkha 47, Dhading 40, Nuwakot 38, Tanahun 31, Nawalparasi West 28, Rasuwa 13.
The Prithvi Highway partly reopens: the Galchhi stretch to alternating one way traffic and the Galaundi-Ghatbesi-Jarekhet stretch to two way traffic, the Kathmandu Post reports. Officials say they cannot guarantee the whole highway will be clear by the end of Friday.
David Fisher, head of delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Nepal, says at least 93,000 people have been affected by the flood and are in great need.
In a reversal, Nepal says it will let India, China, Australia and South Korea send in tunnel rescue and DNA identification experts, the Kathmandu Post reports. Nepal had said as recently as Wednesday and Thursday that its own army and police could handle the operation without outside rescue teams.
Water resources researcher Santosh Nepal tells Onlinekhabar that satellite images suggest a huge ice and rock fall off Langtang Lirung, not a glacial lake bursting, may have generated the flood directly by melting snow and ice on impact. He says it is too early to be sure and compares the mechanism to the 2021 Chamoli disaster in Uttarakhand.
Nepal Police raise the confirmed toll to 616 bodies found, in a bulletin posted on the force’s own website, up from 553 in Friday’s 5pm bulletin. The new district breakdown: Chitwan 233, Nawalparasi East 158, Gorkha 48, Nawalparasi West 47, Dhading 45, Nuwakot 41, Tanahun 31, Rasuwa 13.
Nepal Police report 669 bodies recovered and 2,301 people rescued. Nepal News reports the district count as Chitwan 248, Nawalparasi East 158, Nawalparasi West 75, Gorkha 54, Dhading 49, Nuwakot 41, Tanahun 31 and Rasuwa 13.
The Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal says 898 people remain unaccounted for at 11 affected hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Onlinekhabar reports that 361 people have been evacuated, around 300 are believed trapped in the Upper Trishuli-1 tunnel, and Chinese experts have arrived to help with tunnel rescue.
The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology says the immediate risk of a sudden lake burst has decreased after water began flowing out naturally. Onlinekhabar reports experts warning that fresh landslides could still trigger renewed flooding.
Prime Minister Balen Shah says Rs 5.04 billion has been deposited in nine commercial bank accounts for flood rescue and relief, with another US$1.8 million deposited at two banks, Onlinekhabar reports.
NDRRMA reports 734 bodies and human remains recovered, 2,498 people missing, 242 injured or discharged, and 8,186 people rescued. The district body count is Chitwan 259, Nawalparasi East 184, Nawalparasi West 82, Gorkha 58, Nuwakot 52, Dhading 50, Tanahun 36 and Rasuwa 13. The rescue total breaks down to 2,974 by the Nepali Army, 2,699 by Nepal Police and 2,513 by the Armed Police Force, Onlinekhabar and the Kathmandu Post report.
Nepal Police bulletin 10274 reports 735 bodies found in Nepal. The district count is Chitwan 259, Nawalparasi East 184, Nawalparasi West 82, Gorkha 58, Nuwakot 52, Dhading 50, Tanahun 37 and Rasuwa 13, which adds to 735.
NDRRMA reports 752 bodies found in Nepal, 2,502 people out of contact and 8,730 people rescued in its 1pm Sunday situation update, Onlinekhabar reports. The district count is Chitwan 259, Nawalparasi East 184, Nawalparasi West 100, Gorkha 58, Nuwakot 52, Dhading 50, Tanahun 36 and Rasuwa 13, which adds to 752. The report does not publish a current rescue agency or location breakdown.
Nepal Police bulletin 10275 reports 768 bodies found in Nepal. The district count is Chitwan 264, Nawalparasi East 194, Nawalparasi West 100, Gorkha 58, Nuwakot 52, Dhading 50, Tanahun 37 and Rasuwa 13, which adds to 768.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,114, up from 768, by Onlinekhabar.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,132, up from 1,114, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,204, up from 1,132, by Nagarik News.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,222, up from 1,204, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,252, up from 1,222, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,259, up from 1,252, by Nepalnews.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,290, up from 1,259, by Nepalnews.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,294, up from 1,290, by Onlinekhabar.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,342, up from 1,294, by Nepalnews.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,344, up from 1,342, by Nepalnews.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,381, up from 1,344, by Nepalnews.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,358, up from 1,381, by Nepalnews.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,367, up from 1,358, by The Rising Nepal.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,372, up from 1,367, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,382, up from 1,372, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,383, up from 1,382, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,384, up from 1,383, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,386, up from 1,384, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,390, up from 1,386, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,392, up from 1,390, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,395, up from 1,392, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,396, up from 1,395, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,397, up from 1,396, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,401, up from 1,397, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,407, up from 1,401, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,408, up from 1,407, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,409, up from 1,408, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,434, up from 1,409, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,449, up from 1,434, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,450, up from 1,449, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,451, up from 1,450, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,452, up from 1,451, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,453, up from 1,452, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,454, up from 1,453, by Nepal Police.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,455, up from 1,454, by Nepal Police.
The government ends the formal search and moves to rehabilitation. NDRRMA puts the missing at 5,285 as of 3 October, Bernama reports, and Reuters reports 13,795 people rescued.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,456, up from 1,455, by Nepal Police.
A preliminary National Planning Commission survey puts losses to households and businesses at Rs 79.17 billion, Nepalnews reports.
The Office of the Prime Minister says the two Prime Minister's relief funds hold Rs 18.136 billion, Onlinekhabar reports.
Nepal's confirmed death toll is reported at 1,458, up from 1,456, by Nepal Police.
Where the water went, and when
The flood covered roughly 90 kilometres of river in a single day, dropping about 4,500 metres from the suspected break-off point to the furthest reported damage. That speed is the whole story of this event: it is why warning time was measured in minutes, and why the death toll is concentrated in the first two towns.
| Point | Elevation | Country / district |
|---|---|---|
| Glacial source area, Lende Khola headwaters | ~5,000 m | China (Tibet) |
| Lende Khola blockage | ~3,000 m | China (Tibet) |
| Rasuwagadhi / Gyirong border crossing | ~1,850 m | Nepal-China border |
| Timure | ~1,900 m | Rasuwa, Nepal |
| Syabrubesi | ~1,470 m | Rasuwa, Nepal |
| Betrawati | ~730 m | Rasuwa / Nuwakot boundary, Nepal |
| Devighat | ~460 m | Nuwakot, Nepal |
See these points on the interactive map.
The response so far
| Strand | What is happening |
|---|---|
| Search and rescue | NDRRMA reported 8,730 people rescued in its 1pm Sunday situation update, Onlinekhabar reported. The latest report does not publish a current agency or location breakdown, so this site does not infer one. |
| Cabinet decisions | Free medical treatment for the injured, financial assistance to bereaved families, and orders to reopen roads, restore power and telecommunications, and provide food and shelter for the displaced. |
| International assistance | Nepal has asked China and India for help. China has pledged relief funding; India is sending humanitarian supplies. The IFRC has released emergency funding to the Nepal Red Cross Society, which is distributing water, tarpaulins, blankets and first-aid supplies. |
| Downstream precautions in India | Authorities in Bihar have opened the Valmikinagar Barrage on the Gandak, the same river that is called the Narayani inside Nepal, and prepared to evacuate 10,000 to 12,000 people. |
| What is still not known | No government or humanitarian body has published a consolidated figure for people displaced, sheltering or in need. UN OCHA names that as the priority information gap for the days ahead. |
What is still to come
Two things are unresolved as this page stands. First, the cause is not officially confirmed. The leading explanation is an ice-and-rock avalanche that blocked the Lhende Khola inside Tibet, and the USGS has reassessed the seismic signal recorded minutes before as a glacial collapse rather than an earthquake. The full account of what caused it sets out the evidence.
Second, the hazard has not ended. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology says the immediate risk from the new barrier lake has fallen as water flows out naturally, but experts warn that fresh landslides could still trigger renewed flooding. Most river gauges on the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli were destroyed in the first wave, so any warning would come late. New entries are added to this timeline as bulletins are published.
Follow the live updates for anything published since the last entry above.