{"id":40099,"date":"2022-02-02T08:14:19","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T08:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=40099"},"modified":"2022-02-02T08:14:19","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T08:14:19","slug":"la-gasca-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2022\/02\/02\/la-gasca-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The disastrous 31 January 2022 mudflow in the La Gasca suburb of Quito, Ecuador"},"content":{"rendered":"

The disastrous 31 January 2022 mudflow in the La Gasca suburb of Quito, Ecuador<\/h4>\n

On 31 January 2022 heavy rainfall triggered a disastrous mudflow in the La Gasca suburb of Quito in Ecuador<\/a>.\u00a0 There is a detailed set of articles about this event on the El Comercio news website<\/a>.\u00a0 In an article posted yesterday it records the losses as 24 known fatalities, a further 12 people missing and 48 people injured<\/a>.\u00a0 This is likely to be updated during the day today.<\/p>\n

Extremely heavy, short duration rainfall (7.5 cm in one hour has been reported) was the trigger for the mudflow.\u00a0 The Google Earth image below shows the La Gasca suburb and the local topography:-<\/p>\n

\"Google

Google Earth image of the area affected by the 31 January 2022 mudflow in Quito, Ecuador.<\/p><\/div>\n

.<\/p>\n

The mudflow has clearly originated on the steep slopes and channels above the city.\u00a0 The elevation difference between the peak and La Gasca is over 1,000 m.<\/p>\n

There is dramatic footage of the event as it occurred on Youtube, some of which makes uncomfortable viewing.\u00a0 The footage below gives an idea of the nature of the event:-<\/p>\n