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View of Nevado Huascaran - Image author: Suizaperuana

Date: May 31^st, 1970.

Location: Huascaran region, Peru.

Disaster Type: Avalanche.

Fatalities: 74,000 deaths, 25,600 missing & 150,000 injured.

Resulting Damage: 80 million cubic meters of debris which buried everything in its path.

The Huascaran region in Peru was the scene of one of the deadliest avalanches ever to occur in the world. It all started on the afternoon of May 31st, 1970. First came the earthquake, a loud and powerful quake that rocked everything around for close to a minute. This event itself caused a massive amount of damage. Everywhere along the western coast in this South American country, there were buildings destroyed and roads fractured. The quake was caused by a rupture on the Circum-Pacific belt, which is an area of high seismic activity. The Andes mountain ranges have suffered a lot of earthquakes over the years, with both Peru and Chile suffering from some of the devastation resulting from those quakes.

This Huascaran earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale and lasted over 45 seconds. It occurred at 15:23 PM local time and the centre of the quake was around 35 km off the coast, in the Pacific Ocean. It was so intense that people all over the region felt it, even in Ecuador and Brazil, reporting that they felt the ground move during that time. In all, an area of over 80,000 square km was affected by the quake resulting in large-scale destruction. Three million people felt the quake in some way, with some people seeing their homes destroyed or damaged, and others being injured or killed. Local authorities counted over 74,000 deaths with an extra 25,600 missing. Almost 150,000 people were injured in the event.

But the quake itself was just the first problem this region had, as right after the earthquake, a face of the Nevado Huascaran Mountain broke up, destabilizing the whole area where a huge avalanche was produced. Rocks, snow and ice fell upon the village below in a massive 1 mile long avalanche. Debris moved over 11 miles down the mountain range in only eight minutes and completely covered Yungay, a local village which was home to over 20,000 people. Everyone who was in the village itself was covered by the massive avalanche and died almost instantly. Over 80 million cubic metres of debris ended up crashing down on top of the area, burying everything in its path.

The town of Yungay has since then been kept as a national cemetery, a reminder of what happened on that day. May 31st is a day of Natural Disaster Education and Reflection in Peru with people going to visit the location on a yearly basis. Students throughout the Peruvian educational system learn about the disaster on this day and remember those who lost their lives. While stronger quakes have occurred elsewhere, this was the deadliest avalanche to be recorded in history so far.