LIMA: A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake shook eastern Peru on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) and was felt more than 480 kilometers away in the capital Lima, as well as in neighboring Ecuador and Brazil.
Seismologists from the US Geological Survey said that the epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 1:46 a.m. (Manila time), was 80 kilometers south of Pucallpa, a city isolated by the Andes and the Amazon rainforest.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties and the US government’s Pacific warning center said that no destructive tsunami was created after the quake, which was deep at 145 kilometers underground.

Guillermo Alvizuri, head of Peru’s civil defense operations, said that the authorities were trying to contact remote places like Contamana, a town of 17,000 inhabitants deep in the Amazon and close to the epicenter.

“So far we do not have reports of any material damage or casualties,” Alvizuri told local media.

“At the moment, no major cities have reported any damage, neither has Pucallpa,” the civil defense official said.

“It was felt strongly but no damage was reported, except for some telephone lines which were cut,” he added.

Agence France-Presse journalists in Lima said that they felt light tremors in the capital and authorities in neighboring Ecuador and Brazil said that the quake was also felt there, but again there were no reports of material damage or casualties.

On August 15, 2007, an 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated the Peruvian province of Ica, just south of Lima, killing some 600 people and causing extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure.     

AFP