The tragedy registered this Sunday in the Alausí canton, south of Chimborazo, was what was feared. Since last year there have been alerts of a geological fault that could generate misfortune.
This misfortune occurred around 9:00 p.m. when the families were resting. Alerts went off in the canton when dozens of families reported that the “hill had collapsed.”
The landslide buried homes and affected at least five neighborhoods in that canton of Chimborazo.
Nueva Alausí and Control Norte, on the outskirts of the canton, are part of the sectors affected this Sunday.
Landslides and cracks had already been registered since December. By that month, there was already talk of a geological fault affecting an area of 247 hectares. About ten families had been evacuated from the Casual area due to cracks that had buildings.
In February, the Risk Management Secretariat issued this declaration for a polygon with 247 hectares identified as susceptible to mass movements, such as landslides and subsidence.
In this scenario, the emergency operations committees —cantonal and provincial— had been arranged to remain alert and operational to activate the corresponding technical work tables and work groups to carry out the immediate actions necessary to protect the citizenship.
They were also asked to be alert to any negative situation the natural phenomenon could generate.
The entity had requested the governor of the province of Chimborazo and the Zonal Coordination 3 of the Secretariat of Risk Management to proceed to review and update the contingency plans and scenarios based on the evolution of the natural phenomenon.
Among the actions, the Geological and Energy Research Institute (IIGE) was requested to continue monitoring the threat and keep the Risk Management Secretariat informed about the evolution of this scenario.
“To all the institutions that make up the National Decentralized Risk Management System, in accordance with their powers, execute the necessary and essential actions in accordance with the Manual of the Emergency Operations Committee, at the yellow alert level,” he said, in February, Risks.
In February, the Colta-Alausí-Chunchi road was closed due to a landslide in the Causal sector.
