This point was the epicenter of the earthquake that occurred this Friday.
Photo: Taken from the Hydrography and Navigation Directorate of the Peruvian Navy.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded on Thursday off the southern coast of Peru, in the department of Arequipa, with no reports of casualties or damage so far, according to the Peruvian Geophysical Institute (IGP).
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 42 km around 12:36 am (local time) a little more than 8 km away from the coast of Caravelí, 780 km south of Lima.
The Navy’s Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation had initially issued a tsunami warning, which was later lifted by Peruvian authorities. The tremor was also felt in Lima and much of the southern and central coast of Peru.
41 km from the epicenter is the town of Chala, with about 10,000 inhabitants, and it is also located in the Yauca area, with a population of 2,000 people.
The mayor of Yauca, Juan Aranguren, described on the radio that in his town “there are some walls of houses that have fallen” and that the Pan-American highway that passes through the area has been affected with some cracks. “The children were crying, the earthquake was strong,” said a resident.
“I want to convey calm. The earthquake has passed, we are making the first assessments and so far there are no fatalities to regret,” Gustavo Adrianzén, chief of staff, told RPP radio on behalf of the government. “We have ruled out any tsunami warning. A possible tsunami has been ruled out.”
The head of the IGP, Hernando Tavera, pointed out that it was “a fairly intense movement of the ground, which has caused the population to leave their homes.” The person in charge clarified that the tsunami alert issued a few minutes after the earthquake was a preventive measure given that the epicenter occurred at sea.
The Civil Defense and the government activated their emergency plans, carrying out the corresponding monitoring to evaluate the damage and determine the actions to be taken.
Peru, with some 33 million inhabitants, is located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which extends along the American west coast and the Asian east coast.
These regions experience the greatest seismic activity in the world, with at least a hundred earthquakes perceptible to the population each year.
