Soon afterward it was discovered that this was not an ordinary landslide, if it could even be called that.
The mountain literally exploded and hundreds of tons of earth and rock flew through the air across the
river and landed on top of the village houses. The houses weren’t pushed ahead by the earth; rather
they were crushed and then rolled and tumbled by the force of the explosion before all the material
came to rest on top of them. The earth was 15 to 25 feet deep over the village and part of the airstrip
near the village.
Al Pence talked to a geologist who worked about five miles away from the site helping develop a copper
mine. He too had heard the sound of the explosion. Later he visited the site to confirm what had
happened. Others reported there had been a significant earthquake in the area six months before.
However, the geologist explained that there had been months of very wet weather in that area. There
was a mountain opposite the village and a hundred feet below the top of it was a wide shelf with a
stream at the back. Large amounts of water had been percolating down into the interior of the
mountain for all the time of the rainy season.
The explosion was precipitated by the firmer earth on the surface of this shelf beginning to collapse.
The slurry of mud and rocks in the interior of the mountain was pressurized by this collapse and because
it happened suddenly and with such tremendous force, the interior of the mountain literally exploded.
The river between the mountain and the village was not blocked. Almost all the earth and material had
flown over the river and landed directly on top of the village which was completely destroyed. There
was no evidence by air that there had ever been a village in that location.
Later, reflecting on this unusual explosion, Alan Healey, who with his wife Phyllis, were the “support
team” for the Steinkrauses, wrote:
… Other people have mentioned many little incidents that demonstrate very clearly that the Lord
was preparing for the landslide on Sunday. At a time like this we are tempted to think perhaps of
the landslide as the devil’s work, but the earth is the Lord’s and I am very sure that it was the
beginning of some big thing that God is doing. Here are some of the reasons why I think so.
1. Vonnie returned to the tribe Friday and the landslide was Sunday, so they were all together
when they went to meet the Lord.
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