Coca River

This article is about the river in Equador. For the river in Romania, see Coca (Slănic).

The Coca River is a river in eastern Ecuador. It is a tributary of the Napo River. The two rivers join in the city of Puerto Francisco de Orellana. The Payamino River also merges into the Napo River in the city, but at a point about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) upstream from the Coca–Napo confluence.

Coca River
Río Coca in Puerto Francisco de Orellana
Location
Country	Ecuador
Physical characteristics
Mouth
• location	Napo River

Over several months, a large sinkhole formed just upstream of the famous waterfall, San Rafael Falls, the tallest in Ecuador. Due to the sinkhole, the river rerouted itself on February 2, 2020, undercutting the lava dam and triggering major retrogressive erosion. The erosion continues to migrate upstream, eating into the riverbed and valley walls, and can potentially threaten the country’s largest hydroelectric dam 10 kilometers upstream the present erosion front.

See also

• San Rafael Falls

References

https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pcmsc/news/federal-scientists-assess-unusual-river-erosion-disaster-ecuadorian-amazon