Yungay, Peru, 31 May 1970 (20,000 casualties) - On 31 May 1970, an earthquake off the coast of Peru caused a substantial section of the north slope of Mt. Huascaran to collapse. [Situated in the Cordillera Blanca, the world’s highest tropical mountain range, Mount Huascarán rises to 6768 m above sea-level.] The avalanche moved down hill at a speed of 100 MPH with a mass of roughly 80 million cubic feet of ice, mud and rock. It ran nearly 11 miles, burying the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca in up to 300 feet of rock and debris. Estimates suggest that the earthquake killed over 20,000 people.
Tyrolean Alps Avalanche of 1916
Tyrolean Alps, 13 December 1916 (10,000 casualties) - Over a 24-hour period during World War 1 Italian and Austrian forces died in a series of avalanches caused by a mixture of heavy snowfall and man-made explosives. An entire barracks was destroyed, burying 250 officers. Up to 1918, mountainsides were bombed, resulting in an additional 40,000 deaths.
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