Peru: (Glacier break causes tsunami) Mudslide affects several towns in Ancash, state of emergency de

Peru: Mudslide affects several towns in Ancash, state of emergency declared

www.livinginpe ru.com

Situation Update No. 1
On 12.04.2010 at 18:37 GMT+2

A huge portion of a glacier fell on a lagoon in Ancash on Sunday, generating a massive mudslide that affected the towns of Hualcán, Acopampa, Obrabaje, Queshquipachán and Pariacaca, located near the Hualcán peak, 28 km. North of Huaraz. According to preliminary reports issued by Civil Defense (Indeci), there have not been any fatalities, 4 missing persons and a total of 40 people affected; however, figures may reach 200 people, according to

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[edit on 12-4-2010 by apacheman]

[edit on 12-4-2010 by apacheman]

[edit on 12-4-2010 by apacheman]

LIMA (Reuters) - A huge glacier broke off and plunged into a lake in Peru, causing a 75-foot (23-metre) tsunami wave that swept away at least three people and destroyed a water processing plant serving 60,000 local residents, government officials said on Monday.

Manmade or not, global warming seems to have hit hard in the Andes.

Crap! I'd have never thought anybody in danger from a tsunami in the upper Andes! Goes to show safety is always illusory.

www.livinginpe ru.com
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LIMA – Five people who had been reported missing after a lake in the northwestern Peruvian region of Ancash overflowed when a huge chunk of a nearby glacier broke off and slid into the water were found alive, authorities reported on Monday.

Originally, four people had been reported missing in the incident, which occurred on Sunday, but later on Monday this tally was raised to six, and 50 homes were destroyed, the Indeci civil defense institute reported.

A few hours later, Cesar Alvarez, president of the regional government, told RPP radio that five of the six missing people had been found alive, adding that three of them are fishermen who had gone out onto the lake to fish and the other two had suffered traffic accidents apparently caused when they panicked amid the confusion of the incident.

The two people who had traffic accidents were admitted to a local hospital, where their injuries are apparently not life-threatening.

The regional government said that authorities had overflown the affected area, where an emergency has been declared, and that the lake – called “Laguna 513” – received the impact of 2 million cubic meters (68.7 million cubic feet) of ice that broke off of the glacier, a mass that produced a wave in the lake 23 meters (75 feet) high and caused substantial local flooding.

laht.com...

Glad to see they found the missing and no one died after all.

2 million cubic meters is one huge amount of ice. I wonder how it will effect the ecology of the lake?