The remnants of Yungay, as viewed from the cemetery hill overlooking the city. Huascaran, the tallest mountain in Peru, looms in the background.
The silence was defeaning. As I walked under the enormous arches declaring, “El Campo Sagrado | The Sacred Ground,” the vast emptiness of the land in front of me was striking. The tallest peak of Peru, the snow capped Huascaran, loomed far above. It’s foreboding presence reminded me of the power of the earth, and all I could think of was the twenty thousand bodies buried intact under my feet, untouched from their last moments of life. The town was called Yungay, now known as la ciudad desaparecida, the disappeared city.
On Sunday, May 31st, 1970 around 3:00 PM, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the region of Ancash. The earthquake alone caused tens of thousands of deaths around the country.
Two minutes after the earthquake ended, when the worst seemed to be over, 80 million cubic meters of rock, glacier, and snow disassociated from the northern peak of Huascaran. The avalanche roared toward the city of Yungay at a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour. The entire city – including twenty thousand men, women, and children – was buried alive in under three minutes.
The only survivors that were in Yungay at the time of the avalance were ninety two individuals that had been visiting the cemetary on a hill above the city. The avalanche buried the town under 7 meters of rubble, but only reached the second story of the cemetary. Those at the top watched the tragedy unfold from beneath the arms of a large Christ statue overlooking Yungay.
Additionally, around 200 children from the city were watching a free circus show in a neighboring town, which was untouched by the avalanche. Though these children escaped unscathed, the vast majority were left as orphans. Our guide’s father was one of these children.
Today, the city remains a sacred ground. The Peruvian government forbade any excavation of the bodies, but declared it a national cemetary. Tiny edges of twisted buses and iron gates can be seen poking up from beneath the meters of the original dirt and rock that covered the city over 40 years ago. There are four palm trees that remain standing after the disaster – protected by a church that slowed the stampede of earth – that can be seen today. Flowers have been planted in the shape of the cross where that Plaza de Armas used to be.
Though the profound loss of Yungay was palpable, the resiliance of the people was apparent. Neighboring the remnants of the destroyed city lies Yungay La Hermosa, or Yungay the Beautiful, which is once again a bustling mountain town.
The desolance of the site was a somber reminder of the power of mother nature. With climate change melting glaciers and changing weather patterns, I couldn’t help to fear that destructive events like these will become increasingly common.
The view from the top of the cemetery, overlooking the site and Huascaran Mountain.
The Yungay cemetery, where ninety two people survived the avalanche in 1970.
The statue of Christ that the sole survivors of the avalanche stood under. The statue was undamaged by the disaster.
Rows of graves line the terraces of the Yungay cemetery.