Chapter 16
Highlights and Lessons from the
Implementation of an Early Warning
System for Glacier Lake Outburst
Floods in Carhuaz, Peru
Javier Fluixá-Sanmartín, Javier García Hernández, Christian Huggel,
Holger Frey, Alejo Cochachin Rapre, César Alfredo Gonzales Alfaro,
Luis Meza Román and Paul Andree Masías Chacón
16.1 Introduction
The Peruvian high mountains are often affected by mountain disasters such as ice
and rock avalanches, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), floods, or debris flows.
Among them, outbursts of glacier lakes are considered as the most far-reaching glacial
hazard (Kääb et al. 2005). In particular in relatively densely populated mountain
ranges such as the European Alps, the Himalayas, or the tropical Andes, where
J. Fluixá-Sanmartín (B) · J. García Hernández
Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement Alpin (CREALP), Sion, Switzerland
e-mail: javier.fluixa@crealp.vs.ch
J. García Hernández
e-mail: javier.garcia@crealp.vs.ch
C. Huggel · H. Frey
Department of Geography, University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich, Switzerland
e-mail: christian.huggel@geo.uzh.ch
H. Frey
e-mail: holger.frey@geo.uzh.ch
A. Cochachin Rapre
Unidad de Glaciología y Recursos Hídricos (UGRH), Autoridad Nacional de Agua, Huaraz, Peru
e-mail: jcochachin@ana.gob.pe
C. A. Gonzales Alfaro
CARE Perú, Huaraz, Peru
e-mail: cgonzales252006@gmail.com
L. M. Román
Municipalidad de Carhuaz, Carhuaz, Peru
e-mail: arq.luchomeza@gmail.com
P. A. Masías Chacón
Corporación RD S.R.L, Cusco, Peru
e-mail: paulmasias@gmail.com
© The Author(s) 2018
S. Hostettler et al. (eds.), Technologies for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91068-0_16
187
Highlights and Lessons from the
Implementation of an Early Warning
System for Glacier Lake Outburst
Floods in Carhuaz, Peru
Javier Fluixá-Sanmartín, Javier García Hernández, Christian Huggel,
Holger Frey, Alejo Cochachin Rapre, César Alfredo Gonzales Alfaro,
Luis Meza Román and Paul Andree Masías Chacón
16.1 Introduction
The Peruvian high mountains are often affected by mountain disasters such as ice
and rock avalanches, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), floods, or debris flows.
Among them, outbursts of glacier lakes are considered as the most far-reaching glacial
hazard (Kääb et al. 2005). In particular in relatively densely populated mountain
ranges such as the European Alps, the Himalayas, or the tropical Andes, where
J. Fluixá-Sanmartín (B) · J. García Hernández
Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement Alpin (CREALP), Sion, Switzerland
e-mail: javier.fluixa@crealp.vs.ch
J. García Hernández
e-mail: javier.garcia@crealp.vs.ch
C. Huggel · H. Frey
Department of Geography, University of Zurich (UZH), Zurich, Switzerland
e-mail: christian.huggel@geo.uzh.ch
H. Frey
e-mail: holger.frey@geo.uzh.ch
A. Cochachin Rapre
Unidad de Glaciología y Recursos Hídricos (UGRH), Autoridad Nacional de Agua, Huaraz, Peru
e-mail: jcochachin@ana.gob.pe
C. A. Gonzales Alfaro
CARE Perú, Huaraz, Peru
e-mail: cgonzales252006@gmail.com
L. M. Román
Municipalidad de Carhuaz, Carhuaz, Peru
e-mail: arq.luchomeza@gmail.com
P. A. Masías Chacón
Corporación RD S.R.L, Cusco, Peru
e-mail: paulmasias@gmail.com
© The Author(s) 2018
S. Hostettler et al. (eds.), Technologies for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91068-0_16
187