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Aftermath of peru avalanche, 1970The Peru Avalanche of 1970 left the town wrecked. There was a death toll of about 20,000 people. Nine towns and seven villages were completely bulldozed by the rock and snow. They lost about $500 million of damages. Mount Huascaran rised about 22,000 ft. above sea level in Andes Mountains. The ice weighed about 6 million tons and was said to be the size of two skyscrapers. Usually there is around 20-30 minutes before the rocks/snow falls on the town bellow, but this time it came crashing down faster and faster, bulldozing several villages and communities. They were buried under the trees, mud, ice, boulders, and other debris. Not many people in each town survived; about only a handful of people did. The avalanche ended at Santa River, which stopped the flow of water and caused flooding in areas nearby. Some people were taken to the pacific ocean, 100 miles away. Others were under so much rock and snow that they could not be recovered. This was also a very hard time for farmers because many of their animals were killed, approximately 10,000. They also lost millions of dollars in destroyed crops. This disaster took out about 16.5 km of the village on Yungay. The Peruvian government forbid the people from trying to dig up and recover their belongings; they left it as a national cemetery and sight seeing stop for people to go and observe. The air forces of Peru brought relief supplies for the survivors and the troops were opening up roads that got covered by the avalanche. Eight years later, another earthquake caused a horrific avalanche again in the same area. It wouldn't be the smartest idea for people to move their anymore.
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https://prezi.com/mnyvosqi-0bf/yungay-peru-31-may-1970-avalanche/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/avalanche-kills-thousands-in-peru
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazardimages/picture/show/785
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/avalanche-kills-thousands-in-peru
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazardimages/picture/show/785