San Rafael Falls
The San Rafael Falls (Spanish: "La Cascada San Rafael") were, until 2 February 2020, the tallest falls in Ecuador. The falls were located on the Coca River in Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve until a collapse of the river bed upstream of the falls diverted the river underneath the band of hard rock that had originally formed the lip of the waterfall, connecting to a cave below and creating a new natural bridge, possibly surpassing Xianren Bridge as the longest in the world. The natural bridge subsequently collapsed in February 2021. The falls were a significant tourist attraction with a recorded 30,000 visitors during 2019.

There has been discussion as to whether the riverbed collapse and subsequent disappearance of the falls is connected with the operation of the Coca Codo Sinclair Dam some 20 km upstream. There are concerns too about how the altered hydrology of the river may affect its ecology. Additionally, the river effectively bypassed the resistant rock of the brink of the falls, causing a sudden river rejuvenation, which in turn has resulted in very rapid headward erosion of a steep-sided gorge upstream of the sinkhole, threatening numerous structures upstream, including the Coca Codo Sinclair Dam.
Q1321
Spanish
Concept
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falls
Concept
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Ecuador
LOC
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Coca River
LOC
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Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve
LOC
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natural bridge
Concept
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Xianren Bridge
LOC
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Coca Codo Sinclair Dam
LOC
Q7150
ecology
Concept
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river rejuvenation
UNK
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headward erosion
Concept
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San Rafael Falls
LOC
2020-02-02T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2 February 2020
DATE
2021-02-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
February 2021
DATE
2019-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2019
DATE
+20^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
20
NUMBER
instance of
country
part of
located in protected area
instance of