Yungay Avalanche 1970 | The Mountain That Buried a City

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]________________________________________CHAPTERS00:00  An Entire City Disappeared00:23  The Result00:52  The Mountain Above01:52  The Earthquake02:24  Three Kilometers of Falling Mountain03:40  The First Sign04:30  When the Mountain Threw Stones05:11  Cemetery Hill06:11  A City Buried07:22  Cut Off From the World08:03  Relocation08:58  The Warning We Forgot10:12  An Ounce________________________________________REFERENCESUSGS – Geological Aspects of the May 31, 1970 Peru Earthquakehttps://www.usgs.gov/publications/geological-aspects-may-31-1970-peru-earthquakeUSGS – Catastrophic Landslides of the 20th Centuryhttps://www.usgs.gov/programs/landslide-hazards/science/catastrophic-landslides-20th-century-worldwideUSGS – Earthquake History (May 31, 1970 Peru)https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?day=31&month=5Encyclopaedia Britannica – Ancash Earthquake of 1970https://www.britannica.com/event/Ancash-earthquake-of-1970NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information – 1970 Huascarán Avalanchehttps://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.ngdc.mgg.photos%3A7Wikipedia – Yungay flood of 1970https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluvi%C3%B3n_de_Yungay_de_1970Colquioc District Municpality - On This Day in 1970 - Yungay, Ancashhttps://www.gob.pe/institucion/municolquioc/noticias/500683-un-dia-como-hoy-en-1970-yungay-ancashCredits – Music: Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher via YouTube Audio Library