Powerful, deadly earthquake rocks Peru
John Bacon, USA TODAY
3 weeks ago
Emergency crews in Peru were digging for survivors and rushing tents and supplies to a string of battered coastal towns after a powerful earthquake rocked the region Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring scores more.
The magnitude-7.1 quake crumbled roads and destroyed more than 100 homes, leaving hundreds homeless, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said after arriving at the scene, about 350 miles southeast of Lima.
An intensity map released by the US Geological Survey on January 14, 2018, indicates the epicenter of an earthquake near the coast of southern Peru.
USGS/HANDOUT, EPA-EFE
“We are going to send everything that is needed, such as tents for people whose homes were destroyed,” Kuczynski told Reuters.
The earthquake came four days before Pope Francis arrives in Peru for a four-day visit. The quake struck at 4:18 a.m. local time, its epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, about 25 miles southwest of Acarí, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
Homes collapsed and power was lost in the cities of Acarí, Jaquí, Tanaca Yauza, Salamanca and Condesuyos and others, Acarí Mayor Jorge Alfonso De La Torre Velarde said. Buildings shook as far away as Lima.
Yamila Osorio, governor of the the Arequipa region that includes the devastated areas, said a 55-year old man was crushed by a rock in the coastal town of Yauca.
Jorge Chavez, chief of Peru’s Civil Defense Institute, said at least 65 people were injured, and the death toll could rise. His agency posted photos on Twitter of blankets, tents and other humanitarian aid being loaded on transport planes bound for the affected area.
The U.S Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned of possible tsunami waves for areas of Peru's southern coast. The center later issued a bulletin saying no such waves were detected and the threat had passed.
Mining is a major industry in the region, and a Health Ministry official initially announced that 17 people were missing in a mine. Authorities later said there had been no mining disruptions.
Earthquakes are common along Peru's coast. A magnitude-8.0 quake struck a coastal area farther north in August 2007, killing more than 500 people and injuring hundreds more.
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