In Pimampiro, earth movements continue affecting homes, roads and crops; in Nabón orange alert was declared

Pimampiro, Imbabura-Nabón, Azuay

The movements of land masses that are registered in the upper part of the San José de Aloburo hill, in Pimampiro, Imbabura province, concentrate geologists from several institutions who are investigating the causes of this probable geological fault.

For now, twelve families have been evacuated and remain in a municipal shelter.

Visiting this place is like visiting a war zone, where several houses and arteries are semi-destroyed. The movements of land are constant, say the inhabitants, who cling to their lands and ask for protection from the religious patron of the sector.

Last Sunday, a procession with the image of Saint Joseph went through the town center and before that there was a mass in which the Almighty was asked to stop the strange phenomenon that has not allowed them to sleep peacefully for a week.

This Tuesday, around 00:50, a new mass landslide was registered in the area declared in emergency.

Jimmy Marcillo, zonal director 1 of the National Service for Risk and Emergency Management, reported that the settlement caused damage to the productive sector.

12 families evacuated from the rural area of ​​Pimampiro declared in emergency due to landslides and cracks in houses, streets and lots

Armando Chávez, mayor of Pimampiro, expressed his solidarity with the families who lost their homes and productive land. They are asking the population not to visit the site to avoid a major tragedy, because it is considered a high-risk area.

Marcillo, who is in the sector with the group of experts, indicated that the new transfer affected 35 families in the upper part. So far, two hypotheses are being handled about the causes that would be cracking several houses in this small community and the roads that present giant cracks.

The first is that there would be a surface or geological fault and the second is related to a water seepage.

Until now, the affected and affected families are cared for by the Municipality and the Risk Management Service.

Pablo Jurado, prefect of Imbabura, plans to arrive in the area after noon with geologists from the Central University. There he will hold a meeting with various local authorities in order to make resolutions and ask the national government for help.

Marcillo explained that the number of hectares affected has not yet been defined, but they aspire to have the exact amount once they have the measurement of the affected polygon. The municipality preliminarily manages an approximate 30 decimated hectares.

The families of this community are demanding state intervention; while Mayor Chávez on the municipal Facebook account said this morning: “We are coordinating with the different institutions to address this emergency.”

Alert in Azuay

This Wednesday 24, the Risk Management Service declared an orange alert status for mass movements in 130.94 hectares of the Nabón canton. The affected neighborhoods are Rosas, Bellavistas, Tamboloma and Rosario, the government entity said.

“The technical studies determined the need to declare the orange alert due to the increase in the depth of the secondary scarps and cracks both in structural and in the ground and roads, these mass movements would cause imminent damage to the inhabitants and infrastructure of said sectors” , it was indicated in a statement.

With this orange alert resolution, institutions are urged to take immediate action to face the natural event. (I)