A huaico or huayco (from the

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

''wayqu'', meaning "depth, valley") is an

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

term for the

mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

and

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...

caused by torrential

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

s occurring high in the mountains, especially during the weather phenomenon known as ''

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

''. National forests such as the San Matías–San Carlos Protection Forest were created in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

to protect vegetation, which reduces runoff, and prevent huaicos. The indigenous

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

residents of ''

Lo Barnechea Lo Barnechea is a commune located in the northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile, northeastern sector of the province of Santiago. Its urban boundaries include Los Andes, Chile, Los Andes of the Valparaíso Region, Valparaíso region to the north, ...

'', in present-day

Santiago Province, Chile Santiago Province () is one of the six provinces of the Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM) of central Chile. It encompasses the majority of the population of that region, including 31 of the 36 communities of Greater Santiago. The province spans . ...

, were called ''Huaicoches'' in their

Mapudungun language Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the sm ...

: ''Huaico'' (

) and ''che'' (people). "''Cabeça d'água''" (lit. "Water head") is a term in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

describing similar phenomena: During orographic rain, rivers in mountain ranges are often struck by very rapid flooding, which produces a downward wave that can carry large river rocks, vegetation, and people. Several fatalities have been recorded due to water heads, usually from people not familiar with local conditions.

References

Hydrology Geography of Peru {{Climate-stub