Case file · Apparition / miracle
Yungay's cemetery hill
On 31 May 1970 an earthquake-triggered avalanche from Huascarán buried the town of Yungay; survivors fled to the cemetery hill, whose great statue of Christ remained standing.
1970 CE · -9.14, -77.75 · status: legend
The account
Up to 20,000 people died in Yungay. The buried town is now a memorial, Campo Santo, where building and digging are forbidden.
The sceptical view
The hill survived because of its height, not by miracle; the disaster itself is fully documented.