On 4 January 2010, a substantial landslide, occurring approximately 14 kilometers (9 miles) upstream to the east of Karimabad, led to the creation of this body of water.

It also resulted in the displacement of around 6,000 residents from villages located upstream, while an additional 25,000 individuals found themselves stranded due to the disruption of land transportation routes.

[6] The lake reached 21 kilometres (13 mi) long and over 100 metres (330 ft) in depth by the first week of June, 2010, when it began flowing over the landslide dam, completely submerging lower Shishkat and partly flooding Gulmit.

As bad weather continued, the supply of food, medicine and other goods was stopped as all forms of transportation including helicopter service to Hunza could not resume.

Additionally, the community endured losses in terms of land, houses, and agricultural yields, further compounding the adverse effects brought about by the lake's emergence.

[13] Areas downstream from the lake remained on alert[14] despite some officials believing that a major flood scenario was less likely as the river began flowing over the landslide dam during the first week of June 2010.

[13] Some officials had incorrectly predicted that as soon as the lake began flowing over the landslide dam, an 18-metre (60 ft) wave would hit the areas immediately downstream.

On 14 September 2015, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, performed the inauguration of the realigned 24 km (15 mi) patch of KKH containing five tunnels at Attabad Barrier Lake.