75 Foot Tsunami Destroys Town In Peru

At least several people were missing after a glacier broke off and plunged into a lake in western peru on Sunday, causing a 23-meter (75-foot) tsunami that devastated a nearby town, authorities said on Monday. The incident happened at a lake in the Andes near the town of Carhuaz. It said at least five people remained missing and that two injured had been taken to a local hospital. According to the Civil Defense, at least 50 houses were destroyed when the tsunami struck. Others had been damaged by the wave, which flooded the area and destroyed the lake’s levees. A water processing plant also was destroyed. Damaging tsunamis are rare, and are most known to be caused by earthquakes. However, tsunamis can also be generated by other events such as volcanic eruptions and landslides.

hisz.rsoe.hu...



Man, that is one huge wave. Looking for other info on this...

More found here:

saweatherobserver.blogspot.com...

(Reuters) - A huge glacier broke off and plunged into a lake in Peru, causing a 75-foot (23-meter) 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.

The ice block tumbled into a lake in the Andes on Sunday near the town of Carhuaz, some 200 miles north of the capital, Lima. Three people were feared buried in debris.

Investigators said the chunk of ice from the Hualcan glacier measured 1,640 feet by 656 feet.

"This slide into the lake generated a tsunami wave, which breached the lake's levees, which are 23 meters high -- meaning the wave was 23 meters high," said Patricio Vaderrama, an expert on glaciers at Peru's Institute of Mine Engineers.

Authorities evacuated mountain valleys, fearing more breakages.

It was one of the most concrete signs yet that glaciers are disappearing in Peru, home to 70 percent of the world's tropical icefields. Scientists say warmer temperatures will cause them to melt away altogether within 20 years.

In 1970, not far from Carhuaz, an earthquake triggered an avalanche of ice, rock and mud on the mountain of Huascaran that buried the town of Yungay, killing more than 20,000 people who lived below Peru's tallest peak, which sits 22,204 feet above sea level.

Crazy- the world is falling apart

20 years left -- for the glaciers of Peru.

20 years left for civilization more likely.

But go ahead keep having kids, going to the mall, and feeding the economy! haha.

Seriously that really sucks.

From article above.

Blaming climate change, Mr Alvarez said: "Because of global warming the glaciers are going to detach and fall on these overflowing lakes. This is what happened."

That's my favorite quote from the article.

I don't think people understand that glaciers, under their own weight, fall often(in a geological sense). It is a natural occurrence.

This reminds me of when I was in Switzerland and I saw an avalanche on one of the adjacent mountains and the group of Americans near me were literally in tears because "it was global warming". The local working at the bar nearby was laughing hysterically at them because it was a natural occurrence during the warm months and these Americans didn't have the intelligence to understand this point.

Hijacking human suffering for the furthering public policy is deplorable.

_______________________________________________________________________

As far as this particular story. I think that people need to be better informed of the danger of living in the shadow of such a thing. Tragedies like this need to be addressed by local authority figures and safety personnel, and it seems they are doing well since the 1970 quake as only one person is unaccounted for.

Pompeii was destroyed and the inhabitants decimated in 79 AD. We have gotten to the technological and educational level to avoid such things in the future and maybe this is an example of that.

Even though the tole is low, I hope the person they have yet to find is somewhere safe, warm, and in the loving arms of his or her loved ones.

Edit:

20 years left -- for the glaciers of Peru.

20 years left for civilization more likely.

This is the kind of crap I am talking about. In 20 years, when we aren't all dead, can I have all your stuff? Are you so sure of your 'facts' that you would agree to such a stupid thing?

Read the IPCC reports, not the summary, and get back to me on that.

[edit on 14-4-2010 by DINSTAAR]

On Google Earth...

Town of Carhuaz with nearby glaciers

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/68fd18a6ded0.jpg[/atsimg]

Closeup of Carhuaz. It's a nice size town. Where is the lake and where did the glacier break off? I can't see where this would have happened!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b1d79bab2955.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by berkeleygal


If i have understood the situation correctly then i am pretty sure the glacier broke off and then sent a wall of water through that river system you can see in the pic.

The levies, which were 23 metres high, were breached by the wave.

Hence they believe the wave was 23 metres. I dont think this is the type of 23 metre tsunami you'd see on coast lines or anything...

[edit on 14-4-2010 by srsen]

reply to post by srsen


thanks srsen, I forgot about the levee part.. still a 75 ft wall of water is pretty big!

found a video



[edit on 14-4-2010 by berkeleygal]

reply to post by DINSTAAR


Spoken like a person who lives in the Automotive industry belt…
Don’t worry, I am sure that you can keep your SUV now that the government owns chunks of the Big Three...

Whether you care to believe in man made global climate change or not, the fact remains that the earth is heating, and the CO2 levels are rising.