{"id":42844,"date":"2023-02-08T07:29:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T07:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=42844"},"modified":"2023-02-08T07:29:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T07:29:34","slug":"secocha-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2023\/02\/08\/secocha-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Secocha: reports of 40 fatalities in landslides in Peru"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><strong>Secocha: reports of 40 fatalities in landslides in Peru<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>On Sunday 5 February 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/rpp.pe\/peru\/actualidad\/tragedia-en-arequipa-asi-quedo-secocha-uno-de-los-centros-problados-arrasados-por-los-huaicos-fotos-noticia-1464991\">a series of deadly landslides struck the town of Secocha<\/a> in Mariano Nicol\u00e1s Valc\u00e1rcel district, which is in Arequipa, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?s=peru&amp;submit.x=0&amp;submit.y=0&amp;mswhere=blog\">Peru<\/a>.\u00a0 Reports indicate that a further 20 people have been injured and that over 600 houses have been destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>There are some dramatic landslides of the mudflows and debris flows that have been responsible for the destruction.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5SX3yISz93c\">The Guardian has a video that provides a montage of some of the footage, posted to Youtube<\/a>:-<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&#039;A complete disaster&#039;: deadly landslide tears through village in Peru\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5SX3yISz93c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>There are some other dramatic videos too,<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_FernandoNeyra\/status\/1622462515711029249\"> such as this one posted to Twitter that shows a very high energy flow<\/a>:-<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">La consecuencia de seguir permitiendo ocupaciones en zonas inadecuadas y altamente propensas a deslizamientos <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Secocha?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Secocha<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Arequipa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Arequipa<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/udealima?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@udealima<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/limacomovamos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@limacomovamos<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UrbesLab?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@UrbesLab<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CIESLimaPeru?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CIESLimaPeru<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IEPeruanos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IEPeruanos<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/C4vMWclalh\">https:\/\/t.co\/C4vMWclalh<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5DyAn1Zw8m\">pic.twitter.com\/5DyAn1Zw8m<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fernando (@_FernandoNeyra) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/_FernandoNeyra\/status\/1622462515711029249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LoveWorld_Peopl\/status\/1623045650613936143\">And this one, that shows a pulse of debris bulldozing through the town<\/a>:-<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/LoveWorld_Peopl\/status\/1623045650613936143<\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.infobae.com\/peru\/2023\/02\/07\/triste-amanecer-en-secocha-asi-luce-la-localidad-tras-ser-arrasado-por-alud-que-mato-a-decenas-de-personas\/\">Infobae has this image of the front of a debris flow passing through a community<\/a>:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_42847\" style=\"width: 757px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42847\" class=\"size-full wp-image-42847\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-1.jpg\" alt=\"One of the debris flows passing through a community in Secocha, Peru.\" width=\"747\" height=\"745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-1.jpg 747w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-42847\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the debris flows passing through a community in Secocha, Peru. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.infobae.com\/peru\/2023\/02\/07\/triste-amanecer-en-secocha-asi-luce-la-localidad-tras-ser-arrasado-por-alud-que-mato-a-decenas-de-personas\/\">Image via Infobae<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>At the moment the background to these events is a little unclear, as is the human cost\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/2\/7\/deadly-landslide-strikes-southern-peru-amid-heavy-rainfall\">Al Jazeira reports that the landslides were triggered by heavy rainfall<\/a>, which is consistent with the images and videos.\u00a0 However, it also reports that 36 people were killed &#8220;in an isolated area called Miski&#8221;. Meanwhile, the Peruvian agency <a href=\"https:\/\/rotafono.pe\/eventos-naturales\/arequipa-huaicos-en-secocha-dejaron-sepultadas-decenas-de-casas-1464903\">RPP News<\/a> has also reported that some of the dead had been struck by falling rocks as they travelled by truck along the Urasqui-Secocha highway.\u00a0 I am assuming that these various reported deaths are included in the headline figure of 40 people, but this remains to be confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>Secocha is located at -15.982, -73.172.\u00a0 This is a Google Earth image of the site:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_42849\" style=\"width: 809px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42849\" class=\" wp-image-42849\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-2.jpg\" alt=\"Google Earth image of Secocha in Peru.\" width=\"799\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-2.jpg 1558w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-2-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-2-1024x602.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-2-768x452.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-2-1536x903.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-42849\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Google Earth image of Secocha in Peru.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>The vulnerability of the town to landslides is very clear &#8211; the community is built on an active fan, with houses directly in the flood channel\u00a0 There are landslides scars and large amounts of debris on the slopes upstream.<\/p>\n<p>The image also shows Posco Misky, presumably &#8220;Miski&#8221; referenced above, which is located at -15.989, -73.190.\u00a0 The hazard here is even greater.\u00a0 This is a Google Earth image of the village:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_42851\" style=\"width: 809px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42851\" class=\" wp-image-42851\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-3.jpg\" alt=\"Google Earth image of Posco Misky in Peru.\" width=\"799\" height=\"457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-3.jpg 1560w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-3-300x172.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-3-1024x586.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-3-768x439.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2023\/02\/23_02-Peru-3-1536x878.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-42851\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Google Earth image of Posco Misky in Peru.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>Posco Misky is a site of<a href=\"https:\/\/geco.mineroartesanal.com\/tiki-index.php?page=Misky\"> artisanal gold mining<\/a>. The location has all of the hazards present at Secocha, but also a large amount of (presumably) mining waste stored on the slopes above the town, as the image above shows.\u00a0 This is a horrifyingly dangerous location.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, Andina reports that Ingemmet (the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute) recommended in both 2014 and 2021 that the population of Secocha should be relocated due to the level of hazard at the site.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/repositorio.ingemmet.gob.pe\/handle\/20.500.12544\/3160#:~:text=El%20inventario%20arroja%20que%20en,reptaci%C3%B3n%20y%20vuelcos%20(5.55%20%25).\">The 2021 report is available online<\/a> (in Spanish).<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 5 February 2023 a series of deadly landslides struck the town of Secocha in Arequipa, Peru, killing at least 40 people.<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":42847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,27393],"tags":[1046,57,469,959,299,205,641,12283,122],"class_list":["post-42844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landslide-report","category-mining","tag-chile","tag-debris-flow","tag-featured","tag-landslide-report","tag-mine","tag-mining","tag-mudflow","tag-s-america","tag-south-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}