委内瑞拉阿维拉山呈东－西走向，北坡濒临加勒比海。1992年12月16日，阿维拉山北坡20多条沟谷暴发泥石流，使沿海的城镇、村庄、港口、公路及各种设施遭到毁灭性破坏，造成数万人死亡，直接经济损失超过20亿美元。泥石流发生在森林植被良好的山区，具低频率和群发性特征，规模大，直接入海。分析这次泥石流灾害，对我国的防灾减灾工作具有启示意义。

Avila Mountain of Venezuela extends from east to west and the north slope faces toward the Caribbean Sea. On December 16, 1999, more than 20 debris flows occurred and flowed into the sea on the north slope of Avila Mountain. The group of debris flow destroyed cities, towns, villages, highway, harbors and various installations in the coastal areas. Tens of thousand people were buried or washed away into the sea. A direct economic loss of 2 billions dollars or more was resulted from the calamity. Debris flows occurred in mountain area having dense forest and represent the following characteristics: present debris flow in successions to ancient and old occurrences, low frequency, occurred in groups and large scale.