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Nature and EnvironmentChile

Easter Island wildfire chars famous moai statues

October 7, 2022

A fire tore through an area near a UNESCO World Heritage Site where hundreds of the sacred stone figures known as moai are located. "The damage caused by the fire can't be undone," said the mayor of Easter Island.

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This handout picture shows dark scorch marks on the surface of Easter Island's famous maoi stone statues following a fire
Dark scorch marks can be seen on the surface of the maoi statues on Easter IslandImage: Rapanui Municipality/AFP

Several of Easter Island's carved stone figures, known as moai, were charred this week by a wildfire on the Pacific island.

The most affected area was around the Rano Raraku volcano, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where several hundred of the sacred statues are located. The area also contains the quarry where the stone was extracted to carve the figures.

"Nearly 60 hectares (148 acres) were affected, including some moai," Carolina Perez Dattari, Chile's cultural heritage undersecretary, said in a Twitter post.

Images from the ground show black char marks on the surface of the statues.

"The damage caused by the fire can't be undone," the mayor of Easter Island, Pedro Edmunds, told local media.

This handout picture shows dark scorch marks on the surface of Easter Island's famous maoi stone statues following a fire
The fire ripped through an area where hundreds of the sacred stone figures are locatedImage: Rapanui Municipality/AFP

Easter Island hit hard by fire

The fire on Easter Island broke out on Monday this week, quickly spreading through the grassland and scrub area.

Emergency responders and staff on the island battled for eight hours in a bit to reduce the fire's spread, Reuters news agency reported.

The full extent of the damage is not yet known.

Easter Island is located around 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) off the west coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean.

The moai were carved hundreds of years ago by the Polynesian people who inhabited the island. They are revered as the living faces of the ancestors of the Polynesian navigators who came to the island. Chile later annexed the territory in 1888.

Estimates vary on when the moai were carved, but most researchers say the statues were likely created between 1100 and 1600 CE.

The blaze on Easter Island comes just three months after the territory reopened to tourism following closures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

rs/nm (AFP, Reuters)