A dam collapse at a diamond mine in Jagersfontein, South Africa, on September 11, 2022, launched sludge that poured throughout the panorama, destroying properties, inundating rivers and grazing land, and injuring dozens.
Almost one month after the collapse of a tailings dam, the South African mining city Jagersfontein and close by water methods remained capped with muddy particles.
On September 11, 2022, at a diamond mine in Jagersfontein, South Africa, a dam collapsed, releasing a watery combination of mining waste often known as tailings. The sludge streamed throughout the panorama, inundating rivers and grazing land, destroying properties, and injuring dozens.
October 4, 2022 – After the dam collapsed at Jagersfontein.
Nearly one month after the incident, satellite tv for pc photos reveal that the panorama stays altered by the coating of sludge. This may be seen within the picture above, which was captured on October 4, 2022, by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) on Landsat 9. For comparability, the opposite picture (under) was acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 on September 10, the day earlier than the dam collapse.
September 10, 2022 – Earlier than the dam collapsed at Jagersfontein.
The breach within the dam is seen on its southern facet, via which many of the tailings poured out. Evaluation of satellite tv for pc photos by geologist Dave Petley indicated that the plume reached as much as 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) huge and prolonged about 5.3 miles (8.5 kilometers) towards the southeast. The sludge then turned north and entered a number of streams and rivers, together with the Prosesspruit, and continued to a minimum of Kalkfontein Dam (north of this picture). It reached water methods used for ingesting water and for agriculture.
Because the water receded, it left behind white and tan deposits. The lightest areas on this picture are possible dried tailings and dust. Discover that the banks of the Prosesspruit seem wider after being eroded and broken by the flood.
In line with information stories, the flood destroyed greater than 160 properties, killed a minimum of one individual and lots of of animals, and broken greater than 10 sq. miles (26 sq. kilometers) of grazing land. It stays to be seen how lengthy the muck will persist. As the fabric dries out and hardens it might start to blow away with the wind or be washed away by rain.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.