18 March 2009
38 years ago today – the Chungar landslide in Peru
Posted by Dave Petley
Today is the 38th anniversary of a notable landslide – the Chungar rock avalanche in Peru. This landslide occurred on the banks of Lake Yanahuani (sometime spelt Lake Yanahuin), about 120 km north-east of Lima (see image below):
The landslide, which had a volume of about 100,000 cubic metres, is shown on the image below. Unfortunately the Google Earth image resolution is low in this area, but you can see enough to get an idea. I have annotated the image to show the main features (click on the image for a better view):
The rockslide descended a vertical distance of about 400 m before entering the lake, whereupon it created a displacement wave that crossed the body of water at high speed. The wave struck a mining camp located on the other side of the lake, running up a vertical distance of 30 m and erasing all traces of the settlement. Between 400 and 600 people were killed. The landslide occurred on highly-fractured limestone rocks on a slope that had been over-steepened. The slope remains highly dangerous. Unfortunately the landslide is poorly documented – for example, the trigger is really not at all clear.
Dave Petley is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in the United Kingdom. His blog provides commentary and analysis of landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, latest research, and conferences and meetings.
Damn, that’s scary! A 30 meter wave hitting you out of nowhere?!
Thanks for the entry. Please note that in the detail picture north is downwards.
Hi Dave..I only just found this anniversary post on the Chungar and updated the World Mine Tailings Failures database accordingly. Stunning that the magnitde of this failure makes it the 3rd most severe in history ( Fundao, Mir, Chungar) and yet still years afer this post there is no meaningful documentation on this failure. Gives pause!!!
Hi, I’m doing research on Chungar and little by little I’m interviewing the survivors, who are mostly older adults. It is an episode that invites us to reflect on the importance of knowing how to live with nature, neither the environment nor human life should be risked for economic activities.
Look for Cerro Chungar or Laguna Pampa in Google Earth.