What happened, where and when?
In the first quarter of 2023, Ecuador was affected by several hazardous events that were triggered simultaneously; among them were floods, large landslides, movements, and seismic activities. These incidents left the population exposed, resulting in several cases of loss of life, injuries, and people in need of immediate humanitarian assistance and material damage.
On March 26, at approximately 20:30 hr, a landslide was reported in the canton of Alausí, province of Chimborazo, impacting 5 neighborhoods (La Esperanza, Control Norte, Nuevo Alausí, Pircapamba, and Buain) of the "El Causal" sector in Alausí, causing loss of life and infrastructure. The landslide of great magnitude transported a large amount of material from the upper zone of Casual to the Gonzales Suarez school, leaving an affected area of 24.3 hectares.
The landslide occurred after, on February 19, Resolution No. SGR-039-2023 was issued by the Secretariat for Risk Management. In it, the Secretariat was declaring a yellow alert for the polygon identified as susceptible to mass movements in the communities of Aypug, Casual, and the neighborhoods of La Esperanza, Control Norte, Nueva Alausí, Pircapamba, and Búa, in the Alausí canton of the province of Chimborazo, covering an area of approximately 247 hectares.
According to the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP, for its initials in Spanish), since December 2022, this section has presented landslides, slight cracking, and subsidence in the pavement structure of the roads, which have increased in recent months due to the saturation of water on the slopes as a result of heavy rains, as well as the irregular discharge of sewage by the inhabitants.