Huascarán was the mountain associated with the deadliest avalanche or glacier-related disaster in recorded history, which struck Peru in 1970.
On May 31, 1970, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake off Peru’s coast destabilized rock, ice, and snow on Huascarán’s northern peak. The falling mass raced down the mountain, gathering glacial snow, water, rock, soil, and trees before becoming a devastating debris avalanche and mudflow.
The flow buried the town of Yungay and nearby settlements in the Áncash region. Estimates vary because many victims were never recovered, but the disaster killed up to about 30,000 people. Yungay was especially vulnerable because the earthquake struck on a Sunday, when the town’s market had drawn large crowds. Only a small number of people survived in the town itself.
The event is often called the 1970 Huascarán debris avalanche rather than simply an avalanche, because it combined rockfall, glacial material, and mud. K2, Mont Blanc, and Mount Everest have all experienced deadly climbing accidents, but none is the mountain named in this 1970 disaster.