Quake triggered collapse of an ancient Peru society, scientists say

[Judi Lynn]

Quake triggered collapse of an ancient Peru society, scientists say

An earthquake 3,800 years ago, followed by heavy rains, led to a chain of events that wiped out rich fishing grounds and farmland that sustained the people of the Supe Valley, north of Lima.

By Thomas H. Maugh II
January 21, 2009

Archaeologists generally argue that the Maya civilization and others in South and Central America perished as a result of intense warfare or prodigal consumption of resources.

But for one early society, the cause was more elemental -- earth, wind and water.

The residents of the Supe Valley on the central coast of Peru thrived for more than 2,000 years, building the first massive pyramids on the continent, fishing, farming and extending their hegemony for more than 60 miles along the coast and through five river valleys.

Then they disappeared over the course of a few generations; researchers said Monday that they now know why. About 3,800 years ago, a massive earthquake struck the region, toppling buildings and, more important, loosening soil upriver.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-earlyquake20-2009jan21,0,853296.story

[L. Coyote]

1. This is the no volcano zone of the Andes, but eathquakes unleash chaos in the valleys below

very high peaks, where lakes and glaciers can be unleashed. In the Supe it seems the irrigation was ruined by erosion after the earthquake. I lived in Peru in 1970, when near the Supe a lake was released by an earthquake, drowning a town in mud. There were 70,000 dead from the quake that day.