Ancash earthquake

1970
On May 31, 1970 off the coast of Peru there was a 7.9 to 8.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Peru
and had an estimate 54,000 to 74,000 death rate and that was combined with the earth quake and the
landslide that was triggered. No tsunami was triggered. In the land slide was snow and ice this landslide
is considered the worlds deadliest landslide. The earthquake hit on a Sunday at 3:23pm and lots of
people headed for the church which was in a low area not a high area while other people headed for the
stadium which was on higher ground. The estimated death toll was about 20,000 people and they were
killed from crumbling buildings in Huaraz. Other towns like Chimbote were also greatly damaged or
destroyed. The Earth Quake was fifteen miles off of the coast of Peru. It was also far below the ocean
floor. The earth Quake did not disturbed the ocean floor due to how far down it was. There was a mass
of glacial ice and it was about 800 meters across and it created more than 50 million cubic meters of
debris. It slid approximately 10 miles downhill at speeds between 125 MPH to 250 MPH. The town of
yungay was completely buried by this mass of ice that had fallen off of the mountain that was above this
town. The earthquake shook like this slab of ice off of Huascaran. The 22,205 foot high mountain that
has the highest peak in Peru was shooken and it unleashed mud, rock, ice, snow and it created a giant
landslide/ avalanche which buried people under a thick layer of debris that had come down from the
mountain. 20,000 people were buried alive yungay but a couple miles away it had flattened villages and
left nothing in its path. The death toll is 80,000 were taken and homes were destroyed. 92 people
survived because they were either in the cemetery or the stadium during the earth Quake because both
these locations were on high ground. The avalanche started at 3,000 feet it was also estimated that it
would take 3 minutes to hit the villages.
Global Effects

The Peru Government has banned any building to happen where Yungay used to be because they have
declared it a national cemetery. Villages were wiped out, people killed and buildings were destroyed.
The landslide made a clear path behind it. For economic loss Health has gone down, infrastructure, also
production and manufacturing has gone down also education has gone down for villages lost more than
half a million dollars in United States dollars. Soil is richer and the soil in Yungay is higher. For social
communication was destroyed and the highway was destroyed and now every year on May 31 Peru has
an Earth Quake drill just so their ready for another Earth Quake when it comes. When the plate that
Peru sits on went under the other plate pleasure built up and when the plates unlocked themselves it
sent P-waves which rocked Peru.