1970 Ancash Earthquake

Yungay cathedral was destroyed in the earthquake. This is what remained of it (photo taken in 2008)

On 31st May 1970, there was an earthquake in Peru. It had a magnitude of 7.9 on the Richter scale. Thousands of houses were destroyed; there were many landslides. Estimates are that about 800,000 people lost their homes, and about 70,000 people died. It was probably the biggest earthquake in the modern history of Peru. The city of Yungay was almost completely destroyed.