Powerful earthquake hits Peru. Tsunami warning

The first reports of a powerful earthquake that struck the coast of southern Peru on Friday night have been confirmed. Tremors measuring up to 7.2 on the Richter scale were measured at a depth of 28 kilometers. The country’s authorities are warning of a possible tsunami.

Earthquake in Peru. Residents of Lima felt the vibrations

On the night from Thursday to Friday, a powerful earthquake struck Peru. In the coastal town of Chala, where the time is seven hours behind Poland, the first tremors occurred shortly after midnight. The epicenter was located about 600 kilometers south of the capital Lima, whose residents also felt the tremors. The scale of the damage has not yet been determined. “The Peruvian authorities informed through X that the government is monitoring the situation,” we read. The strongest tremors were measured at a depth of 28 kilometers and had a magnitude of 7.2 on the Richter scale. This is slightly less than the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that claimed the lives of up to 60,000 people in Turkey last year.

Tsunami warning

The Peruvian Geophysical Institute has issued a tsunami warning. If authorities consider the threat level justified, they will launch population protection protocols in the coming hours, such as mass evacuations of particularly endangered areas. “Based on all available data, dangerous tsunami waves are predicted on part of the coast,” the institution said.

Peru, along with the rest of South America’s Pacific coast, lies on the boundary of two tectonic plates. The last major earthquake here occurred in May 2022, when a magnitude 7.2 quake caused moderate damage in the city of Puno and the surrounding area.