913/1700

The World in Images

Logo

Quebrada Cojup with breached moraine dam

WI_pe051.jpg

The prominent gap in the moraine ridge in the centre of this image and the debris deposited directly downstream are the results of a dam failure and sudden drainage of Laguna Palcacocha (formerly impounded behind this ridge) on 13 December 1941. The resulting mass flow caused major damage and numerous fatalities 23 km downstream in Huaraz. The summit in the central background of the image is Nevado Palcaraju (6274 m).

Location
View on OpenStreetMap
Created
on Friday 21 July 2017 by Martin Mergili
Visits and license
9707 visits, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED license