7.5-magnitude earthquake shakes north Peru
LIMA: A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck northern Peru on Sunday, destroying buildings including a church tower, injuring at least 10 people and sending shock waves across the region.
The strong quake hit at 5.52am at a depth of 131 kilometres, according to the Geophysical Institute of Peru.
Civil Defense authorities said at least 10 people were injured, while 75 houses were destroyed. The quake also caused damage in neighboring Ecuador.
The epicentre was 98 kilometres east of the small Peruvian town of Santa Maria de Nieva in the Peruvian Amazon – a sparsely populated area inhabited by Amazonian indigenous people.
“The movement has been immense,” the town’s mayor, Hector Requejo, told RPP radio. He said some wood and adobe houses had collapsed.
The 14-metre tower of a colonial-era church collapsed in the La Jalca district, also in the Amazon.
Widespread power outages were reported and roads were cut off by rocks unearthed by the tremor. The deep quake was felt in almost half of the country, including coastal and Andean regions, and the capital Lima.
“We have all taken to the streets, we are very scared,” a listener called Lucia told RPP radio from the northern town of Chota.
“All my solidarity with the people of Amazonas in the face of the strong earthquake. You are not alone, brothers,” Peruvian President Pedro Castillo said on Twitter.
He said he had ordered all relevant ministries ‘to take immediate actions.’
In Lima, more than 1,000 kilometres south of the epicentre, the tremor was felt with less intensity but lasted long enough to prompt some people to take to the streets. No tsunami warning was issued by US monitors after the quake.