Layers
- Peligro de inundación — Prov. Huasco
CheckPredio · Aquedra
Where can it flood?
River flood hazard across Huasco and Coquimbo, Chile, modelled with the CheckPredio engine (10- to 100-year return periods).
10 steps · about 2 min
Step 1 of 10
River flood hazard
This map shows river flood hazard across the Huasco province (Atacama) and the Coquimbo region of Chile.
- Red — high: floods in a frequent event (10-year return period)
- Orange — medium: 25- to 50-year events
- Yellow — low: only in an exceptional 100-year event
Step 2 of 10
How to read it: Vallenar
Each colour comes from simulating a river's design flood and routing it over the terrain (~25 m elevation model).
In Vallenar the Huasco river runs through the city: the red bands along the channel are low terraces that flood in frequent events; yellow marks the edge of a centennial flood.
Step 3 of 10
Flooded area, river by river
Area each river can flood in a 100-year event, across the Huasco province:
Click any polygon to see its river and area.
Step 4 of 10
From a frequent flood to an exceptional one
The same city under three return periods. Use the timeline to see how much the footprint grows between a flood that happens every 10 years and one that happens every 100.
Step 5 of 10
T10 against T100
Drag the handle to move from the frequent flood to the exceptional one over the same ground. The gap between them is the margin a land-use plan has to decide whether to accept.
Step 6 of 10
Checked against reality: March 2015
In March 2015 an extreme event left historic debris flows across Atacama. The orange polygons are the real affected areas mapped by SERNAGEOMIN from imagery.
Compared with the model's red footprint (T10), the engine recovers most of the channels that actually activated.
Step 7 of 10
What is at stake
Urban surface inside the 100-year flood area:
The points are mining tailings deposits — sensitive infrastructure when it sits inside a flood zone.
Step 8 of 10
Coquimbo region
The same analysis across three valleys: Elqui, Limarí and Choapa.
927 ha
Urban surface exposed in La Serena
720 ha
Urban surface exposed in Coquimbo
In the La Serena–Coquimbo conurbation the risk concentrates at the Elqui river mouth and the coastal ravines.
Step 9 of 10
The flow reaching each reach
The lines are rivers coloured by their 100-year design flow: the darker, the higher.
Flooded area at T100 per river, in hectares.
Step 10 of 10
Method and limits
How it was computed — design rainfall (CR2MET, GEV extremes) → flow per return period (transfer from DGA/CAMELS-CL gauges, or SCS-CN) → water depth (Manning) → flood footprint (HAND, ~25 m DEM). Sources: BCN, SERNAGEOMIN, HydroSHEDS.
Limits — this is a regional screening model: it does not replace a detailed hydraulic study or any municipal land-use regulation.