The Riñihue Lake ( ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

origin in eastern

Valdivia Province Valdivia Province (; ) is one of two Provinces of Chile, provinces of the southern Chilean Regions of Chile, region of Los Ríos Region, Los Ríos (XIV). The provincial capital is Valdivia (city), Valdivia. Located in the province are two importan ...

, southern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. It is surrounded by several mountains. The eastern side receives the waters of the Panguipulli Lake by the Enco River, its main contributor. It is the last of the Seven Lakes chain. In the west it is cut into two arms by the

Tralcán Tralcán (Mapudungun for ''thunder'') is a triangular-shaped mountain, which is located near Riñihue Lake, Chile. It is located south of the outflow dividing western Riñihue in two arms. Despite having been sacred to the Huilliches for centuri ...

Mount, and on the east side lies the

Mocho-Choshuenco Mocho-Choshuenco (Pronounced: ) is a glacier covered compound stratovolcano in the Andes of Los Ríos Region, Chile. It is made of the twin volcanoes Choshuenco in the northwest and the Mocho in the southeast. The highest parts of the volcan ...

volcano. In the south the lake is bounded by the Cerros de Quimán mountains. The lake's name derives from the

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 ...

words ''rëngi'', "

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance * White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...

", and ''hue'', "place". In the 16th century the lake was known as Comohue, from ''co mu'', "with water", and ''hue'', "place".

The Riñihuazo

The Riñihue lake became famous after an event known as the "Riñihuazo", which threatened to destroy several towns, villages and cities in southern Chile. During the Great Chilean earthquake a landslide near the Tralcan Mount

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

med the Riñihue Lake. As the water levels of Riñihue rose more than 20 meters, the dam was in danger of breaking and flooding everything downstream, including the city of

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

. There were plans for evacuating the city, and many people left the city. All this ended when a large team of workers was able to open a channel for drainage in the landslide. Then the water levels of the lake sunk slowly to its normal levels. There is evidence that a similar landslide and earthquake happened in 1575.

References

External links

image of Riñihue Lake
Lakes of Chile Lakes of Los Ríos Region Glacial lakes of Chile Landslide-dammed lakes Mapuche language {{LosRíos-geo-stub