What happened in the Huascarán avalanche?
The 1970 Huascarán Debris Avalanche occurred on May 31, 1970, when a debris avalanche and mudflow triggered by the Ancash earthquake destroyed the Peruvian town of Yungay and ten nearby villages, leaving up to 30,000 people dead.
How far did the Huascarán avalanche travel?
An avalanche on Mt. Huascaran buried 18,000 of the 25,000 residents of Yungay and 10,000 of the 35,000 residents of Huras. The avalanche started as a sliding mass of glacial ice and rock about 3,000 feet wide and one mile long. It swept 11 miles to Yungay at a speed of 100 miles per hour.
How long did the Huascarán avalanche happen?
However, this time, the avalanche traveled nine-and-a-half miles in only seven minutes, wiping away several communities. The towns of Ranrahirca and Huarascucho were buried under 40 feet of ice, mud, trees, boulders and other debris. Only a handful of people in each town survived.
When did the Huascarán avalanche happen?
May 31, 19701970 Huascarán debris avalanche / Start date
How tall is the Huascaran mountain?
22,205′Huascaran / Elevation
Mount Huascarán, Spanish Nevado Huascarán, mountain peak of the Andes of west-central Peru. The snowcapped peak rises to 22,205 feet (6,768 m) above sea level in the Cordillera Blanca, east of the Peruvian town of Yungay. It is the highest mountain in Peru and is a favourite of mountaineers and tourists.
What caused the Huascarán avalanche of 1970?
The 1970 Huascarán debris avalanche occurred on May 31, 1970, when a debris avalanche and mudflow triggered by the Ancash earthquake destroyed the Peruvian town of Yungay and ten nearby villages, leaving up to 30.000 people dead.
How big was the Nevados Huascaran Avalanche?
The most severe single consequence was the world’s worst-ever snow-and-rock slide – the Nevados Huascaran avalanche. The quake destabilized a section of Mount Huascaran 1.5 km (1 mi) long by 900 m (3,000 ft) wide and 900 m (3,000 ft) deep.
What is the speed of an avalanche?
An avalanche can reach speeds of 80 miles per hour and kills more than 150 people every year. Avalanches occur when a big mass of ice and snow comes off of the side of a mountain and rushes down the mountain’s side. Basically, when there is an excess of snow on a mountain, the snow comes tumbling down.
How dangerous is the peak of Huascarán?
The north peak of Huascarán from which the avalanche originated had been considered unstable since 1962, when a smaller collapse wiped out several villages of the Callejón de Huaylas valley near Yungay. However, the provincial government made efforts to prevent the news from spreading and urged people not to panic.