Southern Peru was jolted by a powerful earthquake measuring 6.7 in magnitude on Tuesday, according to US seismologists, though officials reported no immediate casualties or damage.
The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter lay about 40 kilometers northwest of Upahuacho and nearly 800 kilometers from the capital, Lima. The shaking originated 66 kilometers below the surface, the agency reported.
Peru’s Geophysical Institute issued a different assessment, placing the magnitude at 7.2 and estimating the depth at 108 kilometres.
Peruvian television footage showed the impact in the highlands near Coracora in the Ayacucho region — the closest town to the epicenter, with a population of around 10,000 — where rocks and soil cascaded down surrounding hillsides.
“The population has responded, they evacuated and took shelter,” Coracora mayor Yony Odon told state television by phone, adding that he remained hopeful there had been no major damage.
In an update posted on X, the National Institute of Civil Defense said the earthquake “was felt with moderate to strong intensity in several departments,” indicating widespread shaking across parts of the country.
AFP journalists said the tremor was felt in Cusco, Arequipa and even Lima, though with less intensity as the distance from the epicenter increased.
The quake comes after two major earthquakes in the region since June: a double earthquake in Venezuela on June 24 that killed over 6,400 people, and a strong tremor in Colombia last week that left nearly 300 dead.
