1941 Huaraz avalanche | |
|---|---|
| Total costs | N/A |
| Deaths | 6000 |
Huaraz ([waˈɾas]) (from Quechua: Waraq or Waras, 'dawn'), founded as San Sebastián de Huaraz, is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Ancash Region (State of Ancash) and the seat of government of Huaraz Province. The urban area's population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. The city is located in the middle of the Callejon de Huaylas Valley and on the right side of the river Santa. The city has an elevation of approximately 3050 metres above sea level. The built-up area covers 8 km2 and has a population of 120,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the central Peruvian Andes after the city of Huancayo. It is the 22nd largest city in Peru. Huaraz is the seat of the province's Roman Catholic Bishop and the site of the cathedral. Huaraz is the main financial and trade center of the Callejón de Huaylas and the main tourist destination of Ancash region. Moreover, is one of the biggest towns in the Peruvian Andes. Huaraz is the main destinations for winter sports and adventure. Many visitors from around the world come to the city for practicing sports as climbing, hiking, mountain biking and snowboarding, and also to visit the glaciers and mountains of the Cordillera Blanca, mainly Mount Huascarán, which is considered the tallest mountain in tropics, all of them located in Huascarán National Park which UNESCO declared a nature world heritage site. The city was founded before the Inca Empire when humans settled around the valley of the Santa River and Qillqay. Its Spanish occupation occurred in 1574 as a Spanish-indigenous reducción. During the wars for the independence of Peru, the whole city supported the Liberating Army with food and guns, earning the city the title of 'Noble and Generous City' granted by Simón Bolívar. In 1970, 95% of the city was destroyed by an earthquake that damaged much of Ancash Region. 25,000 people died. The city received much foreign assistance from many countries. For this reason the city was named a capital of International Friendship. The main economic activities in the city are farming and tourism. Since Huaraz has tourist infrastructure supporting the Ancash Highlands, the city is the main point of arrival for practitioners of adventure sports and mountaineering. Along with the snowy peaks of the Cordillera Blanca, one can visit archaeological sites like Chavín de Huantar and the eastern highlands of Ancash, known as Conchucos.
Source: Wikipedia 2010 China Floods | |
|---|---|
| Total costs | N/A |
| Deaths | 3200 |
The 2010 China floods began in early May 2010. Three hundred and ninety-two people died, and a further 232 people were reported missing as of June 30, 2010, including 57 people in a landslide in Guizhou. Fifty-three of the deaths occurred from the flooding and landslides between May 31 and June 3, and 266 deaths occurred between June 13 and June 29. Four hundred and twenty four people were killed by the end of June, including 42 from the Guizhou landslide; 277 more were killed and 147 left missing in the first two weeks of July, bringing the death toll as of August 5 to 1,072. A landslide in early August in Gansu killed at least 1,471 people and left 294 missing. In total, the flooding and landslides killed at least 3,185 people in China by August 31. More than 230 million people in 28 provinces, municipalities and regions, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing Municipality, Gansu, Sichuan and Guizhou, and the northeastern province of Jilin were affected, while at least 4.66 million people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding and landslides in the latter half of June. By early August, over 12 million people were evacuated, and that number rose to 15.2 million by August 31.Millions lacked drinking water. A total of 1.36 million houses were destroyed and more than 97,200 square kilometres (37,500 sq mi) of crops were inundated, while 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) of farmland had been completely destroyed by the end of June. Dozens of rivers remained flooded, including the Pearl River in Guangdong province, which had been affected by severe drought during the spring as its outflow was severely reduced. The total damages from the floods were roughly 83.8 billion yuan as of June 27, 2010, and over 275 billion yuan (41 billion USD) by August 8. By late August,16.5 million hectares (41 million acres) of farmland were affected by the flooding, while 2.09 million hectares (5.2 million acres) were completely destroyed.In late May 2010, heavy rainfall caused a train derailment in Jiangxi, killing at least 19 people, and the closure of the Shanghai-Kunming railway line for 24 hours due to a landslide. Many major rivers in China, including the Yangtze, Yellow and Songhua Rivers were flooded to danger levels. The Chinese Government allocated over 2.1 billion yuan for rescue and relief work. The Jialing River, Han River and Huai River surged higher than warning levels.
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