Landslides threaten Machu Picchu, Valley of Kings

Science News

Jan 17, 2006, 16:13 GMT

Washington - Climate change-related increases in typhoons and hurricanes raise the danger of landslides at a range of world heritage sites including Peru's Machu Picchu and Egypt's Valley of the Kings, scientists said Tuesday. A picture dated 21 September 2005 shows the general view of the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, located 130 km from Cuzco in Peru. EPA/PAOLO AGUILAR

A picture dated 21 September 2005 shows the general view of the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, located 130 km from Cuzco in Peru. EPA/PAOLO AGUILARIncreasing amounts of rainfall means a threat of more landslides worldwide, scientist of the United Nations University, Kyoto University and UNESCO warned before a conference on landslide prevention in Tokyo, Japan At the top of the list of precious world cultural sites most at risk are the mountaintop city of Machu Picchu, Peru, one of the most magnificent relics of the lost Inca civilization, and the Valley of Kings near Luxor, Egypt, where a myriad of Egyptian pharaohs are buried in artistic splendour, the scientists said. Lishan, China, site of the Huaqing Palace, built in the Tang dynasty between 618 and 907, is also threatened. 'While all regions experience landslide disasters, the harm they cause is most acute in developing countries,' said Badaoui Roubhan, UNESCO's chief of disaster reduction. Lacking knowledge in how to identify areas at risk was the main problem in the developing world, he said. The raising temperatures of climate change itself might also promote landslides, the researchers said. Last month's landslide in Yemen claiming dozens of lives was blamed on mountain boulders shifting due to changes in temperatures, the scientists said. Among natural disasters, landslides are the 7th biggest killer, after droughts, windstorms, floods, earthquakes, volcano and extreme temperature. In the past 20 years landslides have claimed on average 800 to 1,000 lives a year, the report said. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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DTJan 17th, 2006 - 20:51:42

Humm I think there any many areas much more prone to landslides and natural weather probelms than Machu Picchu.

I've been to Machu Picchu many times filming Machu Picchu Virtual Tours and have not seen any major erosion problems occuring.

You can see upclose recent virtual tours of Machu Picchu at:
http://www.destination360.com/peru/machu-picchu.php

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