On Wednesday, a landslide from the mountain side of Birch Glacier -- located in the Lötschental valley in northern Switzerland -- flattened homes in the Alpine town of Blatten after a large chunk of the glacier broke off, Bethan Davies, a professor of glaciology at Newcastle University in the U.K., told ABC News.

The Birch Glacier above the village of Blatten collapsed and caused a landslide that has buried most of the village. Authorities had evacuated residents earlier this month, but one person is missing.