Thread: Peru Hit by Magnitude 7.0 Quake: U.S. Agency

UPDATE 1-Strong 6.8-magnitude quake shakes central Peru

12:11am EDT

LIMA, Aug 24 (Reuters) - A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck a remote Amazon region of Peru on Wednesday, shaking office buildings in the capital almost 600 kilometers (370 miles) away, witnesses and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Local media said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage in central parts of the Andean nation.

The USGS said the epicenter of the quake was at a depth of 145 km (90 miles), near the town of Pucallpa, which lies in a sparsely populated region in central-eastern Peru close to the Brazilian border.

Telephone lines were down in the eastern area, which is not a mining region. Earthquake-prone Peru is a leading metals exporter. (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Writing by Helen Popper, Editing by Sandra Maler)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/ ... AG20110824

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Peru Hit by Magnitude 7.0 Quake: U.S. Agency

By Alex Emery - Aug 24, 2011 11:58 AM PT .

An magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck about 354 miles north-northeast of Lima, Peru, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its website.

The quake was felt as far north as the jungle city of Bagua, 700 kilometers (420 miles) northwest of Lima, and Ica on the coast, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Lima, Lima-based Radioprogramas reported. No damages or casualties were reported.

Telephone and mobile phone services were functioning intermittently following the quake, which shook office buildings in the capital, forcing companies to evacuate their personnel.

Peru, where half the population of 30 million lives on $1 a day, has suffered three destructive earthquakes in the past decade, including a 8.0 quake in August 2007 that killed 525 people and left 200,000 homeless on the south coast. Peru is Latin America’s seventh-largest economy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Emery in Lima at aemery1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-2 ... -says.html