Friday, June 28, 2024

8 injured after 7.0 magnitude quake, aftershocks trigger landslides in Peru

Eight people were injured after an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 jolted near the coast in southern Peru's Arequipa region. No deaths were reported and a tsunami threat was issued earlier, but later discarded.

Reuters
Lima,
UPDATED: Jun 28, 2024


In Short
7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Arequipa, Peru
8 people injured, no deaths reported
Four aftershocks caused landslides on local roads



A powerful earthquake of magnitude of 7.0 struck near the coast in southern Peru's Arequipa region on Friday, local officials said, adding no deaths had been reported.

A total of eight people have been injured. The Chief of Disaster Risk Management and National Defense at the Ministry of Health, David Aponte, informed local radio station RPP of three minor injuries. Later, the Ministry of Health reported another five injured people had been treated in hospitals nearby.

Following the earthquake, Arequipa was hit by four aftershocks of 4 to 4.6 magnitude, causing some landslides on local roads.

The government said on social media it was monitoring to assess the damage and "determine the actions to be taken".

The US National Tsunami Warning Centre had said there was a tsunami threat from the quake, adding waves of between 1 and 3 metres (9.84 ft) above the tide level had been recorded along some parts of Peru's coast.

Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen, however, said the tsunami warning on the coast of Arequipa had been discarded.

Carlos Zanabria, an adviser to the regional government of Arequipa, told local radio station RPP, material damage had been reported in some districts and residents had left their homes in fear, but he had heard no reports of death or injury.

Flavio Aranguren, the mayor of Yauca district in Arequipa's Caraveli province, told RPP some walls of houses in the district had collapsed. He also said no fatalities had been reported.

Small artisanal gold mines operate in the town of Yauca and other neighboring towns near the coast, but there was no information available so far about any impact.

Ricardo Guillen, representative of the National Emergency Operations Center, said that there have been power and telephone line outages in areas near the epicenter of the earthquake.

Ecuador and Peru are part of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an extensive area that surrounds the Pacific Ocean where clashes between the continental plates are frequent.


Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Hits Peru, Tsunami Warning Issued

United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the earthquake at 7.2 on the richer scale. There were no immediate details on damage to life or property.

Outlook Web Desk
Updated on: 28 June 2024 


The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia said there was no tsunami threat to Australia from the Magnitude 7.0 earthquake near the Coast of Peru. Photo: File representative image

An earthquake measuring Magnitude 7.2 on the Richter scale hit the coast of Peru on Friday, June 28, prompting a tsunami warning.

United States Geological Survey (USGS) measured the earthquake at 7.2 on the richer scale. There were no immediate details on damage to life or property.

Eder Allca, the mayor of the district of Sancos, in the Ayacucho region, told the local radio station RPP that a road in his district suffered rock slides that left several localities cut off.

The epicentre of the earthquake, as per USGS, was eight kilometres West of Peru's Atiquipa and 28 kilometres in depth.

The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia said there was no tsunami threat to Australia from the Magnitude 7.0 earthquake near the Coast of Peru.

The Hydrography and Navigation Directorate of the Peruvian Navy reported that the seismic event generated a tsunami alert along the Peruvian coast. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu said any threat of a tsunami had already passed.


On June 16 also, 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Peru but there was no threat of tsunami. The Geophysical Institute of Peru said the quake was centered in the Pacific at a depth of 25 kilometers (16 miles) off the coast of Arequipa department.

Peru is hit by hundreds of detectable earthquakes every year.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude 6.0 and said the epicenter of the quake was 19.9 kilometers deep.

The event was perceived as being "between moderate and strong by the population," the official report cited by phys.org added.

Peru, with a population of around 33 million, falls on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast area of intense seismic activity that runs along the west coast of the Americas.

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