San Rafael Waterfall on Coca River is a prominent tourist attraction in Ecuador, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year. The water of San Rafael waterfall fell about 47m into a volcanic lake.
Currently, the iconic waterfall of this South American country has disappeared, replaced by 3 streams, CNN quoted information from the US aerospace agency NASA.
All tourism activities to the waterfall have been suspended. The waterfall also does not appear on Ecuador's travel website.
Experts from the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of Ecuador believe that the waterfall disappeared in early February and shifted the current river to the ground.
Immediately after that time, MOE technicians checked the waterfall and reported a "risk of erosion in the river's path, before the waterfall ran out of water". However, they could not determine the exact cause at that time.
CNN said there are some disagreements on whether it was a natural phenomenon or the construction of a hydroelectric plant on the river.
Ecuador's tourism ministry has no plans to recreate the waterfall, NASA said.
