SPACEPHOTOS

This pair of false-color images (top) from the NASA satellite, shows Mt. Kazbek in Southern Russia before and after the recent collapse of the Kolka Glacier. On September 20, a collapse of a hanging glacier from the slope of Mt. Dzhimarai-Khokh onto the Kolka Glacier triggered an avalanche of ice and debris that went over the Maili Glacier terminus then slid more than 15 miles (24 km). The avalanche buried small villages in the Russian Republic of North Ossetia, killing dozens of people.The top left scene was acquired on October 3, 2001, and the top right scene was acquired on September 27, 2002. The long, dark grey streak running upward through the center of the scene shows the gorge that was overrun by ice and debris from the avalanche. The deep reds show vegetated land surfaces, grey areas are bare rock, and white shows ice-covered lands.