Yungay | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 Cemetery in Yungay | |
 Flag  Seal | |
  Yungay Location of in Peru | |
| Coordinates: 09°08′22″S77°44′42″W / 9.13944°S 77.74500°W | |
| Country |  Peru |
| Region | Ancash |
| Province | Yungay |
| District | Yungay |
| Founded | 4 August 1540 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Fernando Ciro Casio Consolación |
| Elevation | 2,458 m (8,064 ft) |
| Population (2017) | |
| • Total | 20,070 |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (PET) |
| Climate | BSk |
Yungay is a town in the Ancash Region in north central Peru, South America.
Yungay is located in the Callejón de Huaylas on Río Santa at an elevation of approximately 2,500 meters, 450 km north of Lima, the country's capital. East of the small town are the mountain ridges of snow-covered Cordillera Blanca, with Huascarán, Peru's highest mountain, no more than 15 km east of Yungay.
Yungay is the capital of Yungay Province, as well as the main town in the Yungay District. While the town counts approximately 10,000 inhabitants (2010 projection based on 2007 census data [1] ) Yungay Province has a population of 60,000 (2000 estimate). The Province of Yungay occupies part of the Callejón de Huaylas, the Conchucos Valley (Yanama), the coast of Ancash (Quillo) and the Huascarán National Park.
The "Restoration" army, a Chilean-Peruvian army during the War of the Confederation, defeated the army of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation during the Battle of Yungay on 20 January 1839, marking the dissolution of the short-lived confederacy.
On 11 January 1962 an avalanche from Huascarán destroyed Ranrahirca and eight other villages in which an estimated 4,000 were killed. Yungay was saved. [2] [3]
In 1962, two American scientists, David Bernays and Charles Sawyer, had reported seeing a massive vertical slab of rock being undermined by a glacier on mount Huascarán Norte, which threatened to fall and cause the obliteration of Yungay. According to Sawyer, when this was reported in the Expreso newspaper (27 September 1962), the government ordered them to retract or face prison, and they fled the country. Citizens were forcibly prevented from speaking of an impending disaster. Eight years later, the prediction came true. [4] [5]
On 31 May 1970, the Ancash earthquake caused a substantial part of the north side of a mountain, Nevado Huascarán, to collapse and an unstable mass of glacial ice about 800 meters across at the top of Nevado Huascarán to fall. This caused a debris avalanche, burying the town of Yungay and killing 20,000 people (400 survived). [6] More than 50 million cubic meters of debris slid approximately 15 kilometers downhill at an angle of about 14 degrees. Speeds between 340 mph to 620 mph were achieved. [7] Most of the survivors were in the cemetery and stadium at the time of the earthquake, as these zones were the highest in town.
The Peruvian government has forbidden excavation in the area where the old town of Yungay is buried, declaring it a national cemetery. The current town was rebuilt 2 km (1 mi) north of the destroyed city.
Ancash is a department and region in northern Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, and its largest city and port is Chimbote. The name of the region originates from the Quechua word anqash, from anqas ('blue') or from anka ('eagle').
The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in Peru that is part of the larger Andes range and extends for 200 kilometres (124 mi) between 8°08' and 9°58'S and 77°00' and 77°52'W, in a northwesterly direction. It includes several peaks over 6,000 metres (19,690 ft) high and 722 individual glaciers. The highest mountain in Peru, Huascarán, at 6,768 metres (22,205 ft) high, is located there.
Huaraz, founded as San Sebastián de Huaraz, is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Ancash Region and the seat of government of Huaraz Province. The urban area's population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. The city is located in the middle of the Callejon de Huaylas valley and on the right side of the Santa river. The city has an elevation of approximately 3050 metres above sea level. The built-up area covers 8 km2 and has a population of 120,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the central Peruvian Andes after the city of Huancayo. It is the 22nd largest city in Peru. Huaraz is the seat of the province's Roman Catholic Bishop and the site of the cathedral.
Huascarán, Nevado Huascarán or Mataraju is a mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay, situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes. The southern summit of Huascarán, which reaches 6,768 metres (22,205 ft), is the highest point in Peru, the northern Andes, and in all of the earth's Tropics. Huascarán is the fourth highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and South America after Aconcagua, Ojos del Salado, and Monte Pissis, respectively.
Huascarán National Park is a Peruvian national park that comprises most of the mountain range known as Cordillera Blanca which is part of the central Andes, in the region of Ancash. The park covers an area of 340,000 ha and is managed by the Peruvian Network of Protected Natural Areas: SERNANP. It was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1985 by UNESCO, is also a well-known mountaineering spot and harbors a unique biodiversity with plant species such as the Queen of the Andes, trees of the genera Polylepis and Buddleja, and animals such as spectacled bears, condors, vicunas and tarucas.
The 1970 Ancash earthquake occurred on 31 May off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean at 15:23:29 local time. Combined with a resultant landslide, it is the most catastrophic natural disaster in the history of Peru. Due to the large amounts of snow and ice included in the landslide that caused an estimate of 66,794 to 70,000 casualties, it is also considered to be the world's deadliest avalanche.
The Santa Valley is an inter-andean valley in the Ancash Region in the north-central highlands of Peru. Due to its location between two mountain ranges, it is known as Callejón de Huaylas, the Alley of Huaylas, whereas "Huaylas" refers to the territorial division's name during the Viceroyalty of Peru.
The Santa River is a river in the South American Andes mountain range in the Ancash Region of northwest central Peru.
Caraz is a town in the Caraz District in the southeastern part of Huaylas Province of the Ancash Region in Peru.
Ranrahirca was a village in Peru, alongside the river Santa, near Huascarán, the highest mountain in Peru. It was hit by massive avalanches of snow, rocks and mud, originating on the slopes of Huascarán and triggered by earthquakes on 10 January 1962 and on 31 May 1970. Over two thousand people from the village perished in the 1962 avalanche, along with the inhabitants of seven nearby settlements. In total about 3,500 died in the disaster. About 20,000 people died in the avalanches that resulted from the second earthquake .400 survived from the second disaster.
The Yungay Province is one of twenty provinces of the Ancash Region in Peru.
Yungay district is a district in the Province of Yungay in the Ancash region, Peru. It was created by law on October 28, 1904.
Mancos District is one of eight districts of the Yungay Province in Ancash Region, Peru. Mancos is called ``El corazón del Callejón de Huaylas´´ for being located in the centre of Callejón de Huaylas.
The LlanganucoLakes, Chinancocha and Orconcocha, are situated in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru. They are located in Ancash Region, Yungay Province, Yungay District, about 25 km north-east of Yungay. The lakes are part of Huascarán National Park.
Pirámide, also called Pirámide de Garcilaso or Pirámide de Garcilazo, is a mountain in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru, about 5,885 metres (19,308 ft) high. It is located in the Ancash Region, Huaylas Province, Caraz District as well as in the Yungay Province, Yanama District. Pirámide lies inside Huascarán National Park, southeast of Caraz and Artesonraju and north of Chacraraju, at the very end of the Lake Parón valley.
Quilcayhuanca, Quillcay,Quilcay or Qelkaywanka is a river in the Ancash Region in Peru. It is a right affluent of the Santa River.
Vicos or Paccharuri is a 5,315 m (17,438 ft) high mountain in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru. It is situated in the Ancash Region, Carhuaz Province, Marcara District. Paccharuri lies in the Huascarán National Park, southwest of Copa and southeast of Lake Lejiacocha.
Paccharaju is a mountain of 5,744 m (18,845 ft) of elevation in the Cordillera Blanca in the Andes of Peru. In other maps it is shown as comprising two peaks: Rocotuyo of 5,749 m (18,862 ft) and Rayococha of 5,460 m (17,913 ft). It is located between the provinces of Asunción Province and Carhuaz, in Ancash; southwest of mount Tarush Kancha, inside Huascarán National Park.
Pampas Grande, founded as San Jerónimo de Pampas, It is a Peruvian town, capital of the homonymous district, located in the central part of the so-called Callejón de Huaylas in the Ancash region, about 4 hours from Huaraz and 9 from Lima. It has an approximate population of 1044 inhabitants, located at an average altitude of 3690 m a.s.l. It has a cold climate with average temperatures of 17 °C in summer and 12 °C in winter.
The 1970 Huascarán Debris Avalanche occurred on May 31, 1970, when a debris avalanche and mudflow triggered by the Ancash earthquake destroyed the Peruvian town of Yungay and ten nearby villages, leaving up to 30,000 people dead. It is the deadliest avalanche or glacier-related disaster in history, and the third or fourth most deadly landslide-related disaster of the 20th century, after the Haiyuan landslides (China), the Armero tragedy (Colombia) and by some estimates the Khait landslide (Tajikistan).
Caves
Earthquake of 31 May 1970
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