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.
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.
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