Thursday, September 28, 2017

Another Massive Rockfall Has Struck Yosemite's Famed El Capitan After A Climber Was Killed

A second massive rockfall occurred Thursday at the face of Yosemite National Park's famed El Capitan, just a day after a series of rockfalls killed a British climber.

The latest incident was confirmed by the National Park Service in a tweet, prompting officials to shut down an exit from the park in Yosemite Valley.

It was not immediately clear how large Thursday's rockfall was, but several witnesses described it as much larger than the series that occurred Wednesday, which killed a climber and left another critically injured.

Thursday's rockfall sent a large cloud of dust throughout the park.

On Wednesday, seven rockfalls occurred over a four-hour time span at the park, totaling about 16,000 cubic feet and weighing about 1,300 tons.

When rangers searched the area, they discovered a British couple had been at the base of the rock formation at the time.

The size of Thursday's rockslide was not immediately clear.

According to the National Park Service, there are about 80 rockfalls reported in the park every year. Wednesday's death was the first one linked to a rockslide in the park in 18 years.



from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2fCQipp

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