State of emergency after landslide destroys over 100 homes, Peru
Featured image: Destroyed houses after a slow-moving landslide in Peruvian Andes - February/March 2018. Credit: Corazón ANTABAMBINO
The Peruvian government declared a state of emergency for the district of Llusco in the department of Cusco last week after a massive slow-moving landslide destroyed over 100 homes and other structures. There are no reports of injuries and IGP said such events are common in this mountainous region after very heavy rains.
Residents of the town of Lutto in the district of Llusco first reported the event on February 23, after very heavy rains hit the region.
The president of the Peru Geophysical Institute (IGP), Hernando Tavera, said that the landslide was caused by a saturation of water in the earth and not by an earthquake.
The town of Lutto is situated at the bottom of a slope in a mountainous area. See the map at the end of the article.
"Over 30 hectares [74 acres] of earth has moved, causing widespread alarm among residents," Tavera said.
More than 100 homes were destroyed, a school, a clinic, and numerous fields and roads.
The state of emergency will last 60 days, with the aim of bringing aid to hundreds of displaced.
Approximate location of the landslide area
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
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