Huaraz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Central plaza

Huaraz is a city in central Peru. It has a population of approximately 100,000 and is the capital of the Ancash region. Huaraz is situated at an altitude of 3100 m in the Andes mountains, some 450 km north of Lima.

Huaraz sits in the agriculturally important Callejón de Huaylas valley, at the foot of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, which includes Huascarán, the highest mountain in Peru at 6768 m. Huascarán National Park is a popular destination for tourism and trekking, and Huaraz is a frequent base for expeditions to the Cordilleras Blanca and Huayhuash. Tourists often come from Argentina, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, Germany, the UK and the United States.

On 31 May 1970 the Ancash earthquake destroyed much of Huaraz, killing 10,000 people. Nearby Yungay was completely buried by material from Huascarán, with the loss of 30,000 lives.

http://www-astronomy.mps.ohio-state.edu/~frogel/Peru98/Peru98_Yungay/0Peru98_Yungay_home.html