Peru: Yungay – National Cemetery of Yungay

Yungay was the site of one of the most devastating natural disasters in history resulting in estimate 25-30,000 dead – the entire population of the town was wiped out! On May 31, 1979 at 3:23 pm, A massive magnitude 7.7 to 7.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Peru. The seismic shock caused a catastrophic collapse of rock, ice, and snow from the north peak of Huascaran, Peru’s highest mountain. This massive debris flow was around 100 million cubic meters of material that traveled 14.5 km (9 mi) at extremely high speeds over 300 km/h (210 mph). The town of Yungay lay directly in the avalanche’s path and the wave of mud, rock, and ice swept over a ridge and completely buried the town under layers of debris up to 15 feet deep. The site of the old town of Yungay is now a designated national cemetery, and excavations are banned to respect the thousands buried there. A new town of Nuevo Yungay was later built in a safer location a few km north (see previous post). Today, there is a large cemetery with a massive Jesus Christ statue on top to commemorate all those who died here.