Keystone-SDA
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June 28, 2024 – 12:35
(Keystone-ATS) A magnitude 7 earthquake struck off Peru’s southern coast in the department of Arequipa on Thursday, according to the National Geophysics Institute. Authorities have so far reported no casualties or damage.
The earthquake, with a depth of 42 kilometers, occurred around 00:36 local time (07:36 Swiss) in the Pacific Ocean eight kilometers from the coast of Caraveli located 780 km south of Lima. The American Geological Survey (USGS) for its part estimated the magnitude of the earthquake at 7.2.
Peruvian authorities have lifted the tsunami alert issued a few minutes after the earthquake by the Navy’s Hydrography and Navigation Directorate.
The Prime Minister, Gustavo Adrianzen, wanted to be reassuring, declaring on RPP radio: “the earthquake has passed, we are currently carrying out the first assessments and so far there have been no deaths to deplore”.
“We have ruled out any tsunami warning,” he added. It was a preventive measure because the epicenter of the earthquake was at sea, explained IGP director Hernando Tavera. He spoke of a “fairly intense movement of the ground which pushed the population to leave their homes”.
The tremor was felt as far away as the capital Lima and across much of Peru’s southern and central coast. Its epicenter is located 40 km from Chala, a town of around 10,000 inhabitants. Civil Defense and the government mobilized their emergency planes to assess the damage.
Peru is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a vast area of seismic activity that stretches along the west coast of the American continent. The country is shaken by hundreds of perceptible earthquakes each year.
