The 1970 Yungay avalanche began high on Mount Huascarán in Peru and reached the city below in just minutes. Triggered by a massive earthquake, the collapse of ice, rock, and mud buried Yungay and killed thousands in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
In this episode of An Ounce, we look at the Yungay disaster, the 1970 Peru earthquake, the mountain warnings that came before it, and the brutal truth that some disasters feel sudden only because earlier warnings were ignored.
Sometimes catastrophe looks like a surprise.
But sometimes it’s a pattern no one wanted to see clearly.
If you enjoy thoughtful explorations of history, risk, disaster, and human behavior, subscribe and come along.
You may also enjoy this related episode:
The Warnings We Forgot — Even Though They Were Written in Stone
[insert URL]
________________________________________
CHAPTERS
00:00 An Entire City Disappeared
00:23 The Result
00:52 The Mountain Above
01:52 The Earthquake
02:24 Three Kilometers of Falling Mountain
03:40 The First Sign
04:30 When the Mountain Threw Stones
05:11 Cemetery Hill
06:11 A City Buried
07:22 Cut Off From the World
08:03 Relocation
08:58 The Warning We Forgot
10:12 An Ounce
________________________________________
REFERENCES
USGS – Geological Aspects of the May 31, 1970 Peru Earthquake
https://www.usgs.gov/publications/geological-aspects-may-31-1970-peru-earthquake
USGS – Catastrophic Landslides of the 20th Century
https://www.usgs.gov/programs/landslide-hazards/science/catastrophic-landslides-20th-century-worldwide
USGS – Earthquake History (May 31, 1970 Peru)
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?day=31&month=5
Encyclopaedia Britannica – Ancash Earthquake of 1970
https://www.britannica.com/event/Ancash-earthquake-of-1970
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information – 1970 Huascarán Avalanche
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.photos%3A7
Wikipedia – Yungay flood of 1970
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluvi%C3%B3n_de_Yungay_de_1970
Colquioc District Municpality - On This Day in 1970 - Yungay, Ancash
https://www.gob.pe/institucion/municolquioc/noticias/500683-un-dia-como-hoy-en-1970-yungay-ancash

Credits – Music: Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher via YouTube Audio Library