The glacier behind the deadly 2002 ice avalanche in the Caucasus was the Kolka Glacier.
Kolka Glacier lies in North Ossetia, Russia, near Mount Kazbek in the Caucasus. On 20 September 2002, a catastrophic mass of ice, water and rock swept down the Karmadon Valley. The moving debris travelled about 4 kilometres along the valley before an icy mudflow continued for roughly 12 kilometres farther downstream.
The avalanche destroyed the village of Nizhniy Karmadon and nearby rest houses. Reports commonly place the death toll at approximately 125 to 140 people. The event was unusually powerful because large quantities of subglacial water helped propel the collapsing ice and debris. The glacier was almost completely expelled from its basin, leaving an empty cirque.
Kolka is also notable for its surging behaviour: the glacier’s movement can accelerate dramatically rather than proceeding at a steady pace. The 2002 disaster is therefore sometimes described as a glacier collapse, surge or rock–ice avalanche. The other options are not the recognized glacier associated with this Caucasus catastrophe.