Overturned bus on top of avalanche debris at the site of the Plaza de Armas, Yungay, Ancash region, Peru, after the 1970 Ancash earthquake. The earthquake, also known as the Great Peruvian earthquake, struck 35 kilometres off the coast of Peru on the afternoon of the 31st May 1970. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 and triggered a number of landslides, including an avalanche from Peru's highest mountain Mount Huascaran. It was the worst natural disaster in Peru's history, causing widespread destruction and killing approximately 70,000 people and injuring a further 150,000.