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Yungay is a town in the
Ancash Region Ancash ( qu, Anqash; es, Áncash ) 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 i ...
in north central
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
,
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.


Location

Yungay is located in the
Callejón de Huaylas The Santa Valley (Quechua language, Quechua ''Sancta'') 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 Huayla ...
on Río Santa at an elevation of approximately 2,500 meters, 450 km north of
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
, the country's capital. East of the small town are the mountain ridges of snow-covered
Cordillera Blanca The Cordillera Blanca (Spanish for "white range") is a mountain range in Peru that is part of the larger Andes range and extends for between 8°08' and 9°58'S and 77°00' and 77°52'W, in a northwesterly direction. It includes several peaks ove ...
, with
Huascarán Huascarán () (Quechua: Waskaran), Nevado Huascarán or Mataraju is a mountain in the Peruvian province of Yungay (Ancash Department), situated in the Cordillera Blanca range of the western Andes. The southern summit of Huascarán (Huascarán ...
, Peru's highest mountain, no more than 15 km east of Yungay. Yungay is the capital of
Yungay Province The Yungay Province is one of twenty provinces of the Ancash Region in Peru. Geography The Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra traverse the province. Waskaran, the highest elevation of Peru, lies on the border to the Carhuaz Province. C ...
, as well as the main town in the
Yungay District Yungay district is a district in the Province of Yungay in the Ancash region, Peru. It was created by law on October 28, 1904.Yungay PeruYungay Peru retrieved March 7, 2008 Geography The Cordillera Blanca traverses the province. Waskaran, the ...
. While the town counts approximately 10,000 inhabitants (2010 projection based on 2007 census data) Yungay Province has a population of 60,000 (2000 estimate). The Province of Yungay occupies part of the
Callejón de Huaylas The Santa Valley (Quechua language, Quechua ''Sancta'') 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 Huayla ...
, the
Conchucos Conchucos District is one of eleven districts of the Pallasca Province in Peru. Geography One of the highest peaks of the district is Anka Pata at approximately . Other mountains are listed below: Some of the lakes in the district are Chall ...
Valley (Yanama), the coast of Ancash (Quillo) and the
Huascarán National Park Huascarán National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Huascarán) is a Peruvian national park that comprises most of the mountain range known as Cordillera Blanca (the world's highest tropical mountain range) which is part of the central Andes, in the r ...
.


History

The "Restoration" army, a Chilean-Peruvian army during the
War of the Confederation The War of the Confederation ( es, Guerra de la Confederación) was a military confrontation waged by Chile, along with Peruvian dissidents, and the Argentine Confederation against the Peru–Bolivian Confederation between 1836 and 1839. As ...
, defeated the army of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation during the
Battle of Yungay The Battle of Yungay (or Yungai) was the final battle of the War of the Confederation, fought on January 20, 1839, near Yungay, Peru. The United Restorer Army, led by Chilean General Manuel Bulnes, consisting mainly of Chileans and 600 North ...
on 20 January 1839, marking the dissolution of the short-lived confederacy.


1962 avalanche

On 11 January 1962 an avalanche from Huascarán destroyed
Ranrahirca 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 Januar ...
and eight other villages in which an estimated 4,000 were killed. Yungay was saved.


Ancash earthquake

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. 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 Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. They generally ...
, burying the town of Yungay and killing 20,000 people (400 survived). 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. Most of the survivors were in the cemetery and stadium at the time of the
earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
, 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 north of the destroyed city.


See also

*
Ancash Region Ancash ( qu, Anqash; es, Áncash ) 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 i ...
*
Yungay Province The Yungay Province is one of twenty provinces of the Ancash Region in Peru. Geography The Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra traverse the province. Waskaran, the highest elevation of Peru, lies on the border to the Carhuaz Province. C ...


References


Further reading

* , Anthony (1986): ''The Martyred City: Death and Rebirth in the Andes.''
Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
:
University of New Mexico Press The University of New Mexico Press (UNMP) is a university press at the University of New Mexico. It was founded in 1929 and published pamphlets for the university in its early years before expanding into quarterlies and books. Its administrative ...
* , Alan (1999): ''Peru Handbook.'' Bath:
Footprint Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. The ...


External links

Caves
Guitarrero caves near Yungay (Peru). First agriculture evidence of Peru 10,000 years ago
(maps and photographs) Earthquake of 31 May 1970 *

(chimboteonline) *

(yungayperu.com, with details and photos of the catastrophe) {{Coord, 09, 08, 22, S, 77, 44, 42, W, region:PE_type:city, display=title Cities destroyed by earthquakes Former populated places in Peru Populated places in the Ancash Region 20th-century avalanches Earthquakes in Peru 1970 in Peru