Earthquake of magnitude 5.8 rattles Peru

A strong earthquake shook Lima and regions of central coastal Peru late Tuesday, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Peru earthquake: What we know

Peru’s Seismological Center said it was magnitude 6, while the US Geological Survey which monitors earthquakes worldwide pegged it at magnitude 5.8.

It struck at 9:54 pm local time (02:54 GMT Wednesday), with an epicentre 33 kilometres southwest of Mala – some 100 kilometres south of Lima – and at a depth of 32 kilometres, the Seismological Center said.

Crowds of residents in Lima – home to 9.7 million people, nearly one-third of Peru’s population – flooded the city streets when the quake struck.

Peruvian monitors said there was no risk of a tsunami.

Some rocks fell from 80-meter tall cliffs along the Costa Verde, where a busy road below hugs the city’s beaches, according to local television.

Ring of fire

Peru is rattled by dozens of earthquakes of varying strength each year as it is located in the Pacific ring of fire, a particularly seismically active region where the Earth’s tectonic plates collide.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported a moderate 4.8-magnitude earthquake in Peru near Atico, Provincia de Caraveli, Arequipa, on 8 June 2021.

The Volcano Discovery confirmed: “The earthquake hit early morning on Tuesday 8 June 2021 at 2:21 am local time at a shallow depth of 10 km. Magnitude and other quake parameters can still change in the coming hours as the agency continues to process seismic data.”

In the Americas, the ring runs along the whole Pacific coastline, from Alaska to southern Chile.

Tensions are already running high in Peru as the country awaits the outcome of the June 6 presidential election, in which an apparent narrow victory by leftist Pedro Castillo is being challenged by right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori.

On Tuesday, The U.S. State Department labelled Peru’s recent election as ‘fair’, despite claims of voter fraud made by conservative candidate Keiko Fujimori, who tried to get ballots thrown out.

© Agence France-Presse

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