About 75 people, including 60 tourists, have left the Ferret valley in the Alpine region Valle d’Aosta.
Stefano Miserocchi, the mayor of Courmayeur, also closed a main road in the valley on Thursday, according to the websites of the affected villages.
At a press conference on Friday, Valerio Segor, the director of the region for natural risk management, said that the evacuation could not be delayed.
“The measure could not be postponed following a survey by Planpincieux Glacier showing a section of 500,000 square meters of ice that could quickly loosen from the rock,” Segor said.
It is feared that a section of 500,000 square meters of the glacier could detach Planpincieux.
MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP / Getty Images
Lying in the Mont Blanc massif, the glacier has been under surveillance since 2012 due to the effects of climate change, according to Fabrizio Troilo, of the Montagna Sicura (Secure Mountain) Foundation, who is accused of overseeing the glacier.
The glacier is classified as a “temperate” one as opposed to “cold”, because it has water between the mass of ice and mountain.
Rapid evolution
“The fracture of the glacier is very deep and the body of 500,000 square meters is completely detached from the underlying rock,” said Troilo. “The moving speed is much higher. We can see this from photographic monitoring, moving more than one meter per day.”
Hot temperatures in late July and early August followed by a brief cold snap that caused snow at higher altitudes this week have exacerbated the problem, causing a fracture between the rock and the mass of ice.
Troilo said the potential for collapse collapsed again in April, but has increased in recent weeks, with the ice section going through a “very rapid evolution” in the last 15 days.
Last summer, surveillance efforts were stepped up with the addition of probes and other technical tools to better control the glacier.
Miserocchi said the village of Courmayeur and the rest of Mount Blanc “remain perfectly safe”, adding that tourists can still enjoy their alpine holiday.
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