Colapso del lago Cari Lauquen, Natural disaster site at Mendoza-Neuquén border, Argentina.

Colapso del lago Cari Lauquen is the site where a natural dam holding back a mountain lake gave way, located at the border between Mendoza and Neuquén provinces. The released water rushed through the Barrancas and Colorado River valleys, carving new paths through the terrain.

Heavy snowfall in the Mendoza and Neuquén mountains during the autumn and winter of 1914 melted rapidly in November and December, raising the lake to about 95 metres deep. On the afternoon of 29 December 1914 its walls gave way, sending more than 2,800 million cubic metres of water down the Barrancas and Colorado rivers. The flood destroyed the settlement of Barrancas, which had to be relocated, and killed between 186 and 300 people.

The collapse destroyed the settlement of Barrancas, forcing people to rebuild their homes and lives elsewhere. Communities along the Colorado River still remember this event as a turning point in their local story.

The breach site sits at the Mendoza-Neuquén border, reached overland from Barrancas or from the towns of 25 de Mayo and Peña Blanca downstream. The flood wave itself took about four hours to reach Barrancas and roughly twenty to reach 25 de Mayo, so the valley settlements lie far apart. Plan for long drives on gravel roads and carry your own supplies.

The collapse opened a gap roughly 250 metres long and 100 metres high in the lake's wall. The flood carried off railway tracks, trees and rocks along hundreds of kilometres of the Colorado valley, and the town of Barrancas had to be relocated. The lake held about 95 metres of water before it gave way.