16 March 2022
Retamas: a fatal landslide caught on video in Peru
Posted by Dave Petley
Retamas: a fatal landslide caught on video in Peru
On 15 March 2022 a large landslide occurred in the town of Retamas in La Libertad region of Peru. This landslide was captured on at least two horrifying videos. The first was captured from the other side of the valley, showing the main part of the failure engulfing a series of houses built below the main slope that failed. This video was tweeted by @EQuake_Analysis:
#URGENT : Latest huge #landslide in the Retamas village (Pataz Province, La Libertad Region, Northern #PERU), product of torrential rains on unstable ground (high slope). pic.twitter.com/z43jsUVsqj
— Abel Seism🌏Sánchez (@EQuake_Analysis) March 15, 2022
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A second video was tweeted by @ysuradiocadena, taken from the same side of the valley. Again, the impact of landslide on the houses below is horrifying:-
#UltimoMinuto #EnDesarrollo Mas de 70 viviendas sepultadas tras deslizamiento de tierra en zonas de Retamas, Parcoy, #Perú. Se estiman 80 personas desaparecidas. (15.03.2022). #NoticiasYSU pic.twitter.com/x8YjiwGZ54
— YSUradiocadena (@ysuradiocadena) March 15, 2022
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The aftermath of the landslide is captured in this Reuters image:-
The aftermath of the 15 March 2022 landslide at Retamas in La Libertad, Peru. Image by Reuters.
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The landslide has come after a period of heavy rainfall, although the conditions at the time of the landslide appear to have been dry. Reports indicate that 60 to 80 homes were buried (this looks surprisingly high to me). Apparently 15 people were initially trapped in the landslide, although many have been rescued. There are some indications that six people remain missing, including three children, although this will become more clear in the next day or so.
The precise location of this landslide is not yet clear to me- I suspect that is is -8.0233, -77..4760, but this is unconfirmed. This is a Google Earth image of Retamas, collected in August 2020:-
Google Earth image of the town of Retamas in Peru. Image collected in August 2020.
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The stand out feature of this image is that this is an area that is dreadfully impacted by landslides. This is an area that is heavily affected by mining, including one of the largest gold mines in Peru. There is also a large amount of informal mining, which might explain the environmental damage seen in the images. These informal mines are reported to employ up to 5,000 miners.
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.
InSAR data or localize near surface soil moisture data — (ASTERRA) for the last months/year will show you likely location and precursors to this event … not sure why the “Geo-Community” still is not embracing using the tools available for forensic assessment in these situations …these events do not just “happen” ….
Then quickly applying the methodology wherever zoning has failed and our people are #at_risk.
Location probably here:
8 01′ 70″ S
77 28′ 32.93″ W
based on reference structures and road cuts visible
What a terrible situation. Land use planning for building that used geoscience expertise could save many lives here. Looks like this type of event has occurred before and will occur again. I hope people are given better options. With more heavy rain events occurring and more people living on such marginal locations, the only solution is to move people to safer locations.. It is unfortunate that the poor and the workers are impacted the greatest. Once slides like that get started there is little one can do to stop them and one must move out of the way with the places people live. At the minimum monitoring of slope movements may have helped but the danger is so glaringly clear above these houses that one is just cheating death to think one could forecast when these would fail. The slides often come down after the event. In that case ongoing monitoring would help but may just encourage people and employers to house people in such dangerous locations. InSAR is helpful and we want to use it more for change detection mapping to help with alerting prior to major rain events, INSAR is most valuable and reliable after the fact to tell you what you likely already knew at this location. The local people are either not listening to the experts on slope stability and risk or they were not told – or some combination of the two. They may well not have other living options which is unfortunate. My condolences to those who lost their lives in this disaster. I hope those who survive realize they are living under such a high risk situation. At the minimum monitor the slopes for change, tilt, smaller slumps, cracks, stream diversions and blocking , heavy rains which locals can see themselves – and from space or aircraft or drones for change detection. People potentially impacted should at the minimum stay elsewhere until the region dries out and no more movement is observed. However slides can happen when its dry or drying out as well. I wish we had a better way to save lives. Thanks for sharing
That landscape behind the slide looks ravaged.
Appreciate your reporting, hence my learning more on landslides and the issues related.
Based on photos in this article – https://www.dailysabah.com/gallery/landslide-hits-peruvian-town-buries-dozens-of-houses/images?gallery_image=87699, I think the location is 8° 1’24.18″S and 77°28’35.49″W.