2007 Peru earthquake

The 2007 Peru earthquake was an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Moment magnitude scale[3] that hit the central coast of Peru on Wednesday August 15, 2007; it occurred at 23:40:58 UTC (18:40:58 local time) and lasted for about two minutes. The hypocenter was located at 150 kilometres (93 mi) south-southeast of Lima at a depth of 30.2 kilometres (19 mi)[3]. The United States Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center reported that it was a very strong earthquake.

Tsunami warnings

A tsunami warning was issued for Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and even as far as Hawaii following the earthquakes, but they were later cancelled [4], although some areas of the port city of Callao were evacuated. Tsunami warnings were also made for Panama and Costa Rica, and a tsunami watch was posted for Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and Honduras. All alerts were cancelled after a 10 inch (25.4 cm) tsunami came ashore.[5]
A tsunami warning was also issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency stating that waves higher than 20 cm (7.9 in) could reach Japan's northern island, Hokkaido, on Thursday, August 16, around 19:00 UTC (Friday, 04:00 JST).[6]

Aftermath

The cities of Pisco, Ica and Chincha Alta in the Ica Region, and San Vicente de Cañete in the Lima Region were most affected, but the earthquake was also felt in various other Peruvian cities, including Pucallpa, Iquitos, Contamana, Trujillo, Cajamarca, as well as the capital Lima, where the quake broke windows in downtown sectors of the city. Seventeen people died when a church in the city of Ica collapsed and 70 were injured.[7] They were attending mass at the time the earthquake started. About 85,000 homes were destroyed. [1] The city of Pisco, which is 160 miles (260 kilometers) southeast of Lima, has contributed more than 200 people to the death toll and about 80% of the city was destroyed. [1] The Peruvian government reported 510[2] deaths.[8]
A magnitude 5.8 aftershock occurred at 19:02 local time, centered 113 kilometres (70 mi) northeast of Chincha Alta[9] At 19:19 local time, another 5.9 magnitude aftershock occurred, centered 48 kilometres (30 mi) south-southwest of Ica.[9] At least a dozen aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or greater have been recorded.[10][11]
The day after, survivors who could not be accommodated in local hospitals in Pisco were taken to Lima by aeroplane and arriving late that night in Lima. And on Sunday August 19th the President of Colombia is scheduled to arrive in Ica to help the Peruvian people.

Tectonic summary

This earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates, which are converging at a rate of 78 mm (3 in.) per year. The earthquake occurred as thrust faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American Plate moving up and seaward over the Nazca Plate. Experts say this kind of earthquake is produced about once every 100 years.[12]
Coastal Peru has a history of very large earthquakes. The August 15 shock originated near the source of two previous earthquakes, both in the magnitude 8 range occurring in 1908 and 1974. This earthquake is south of the source of a magnitude 8.2 earthquake that occurred in northern Peru in 1966 and north of a magnitude 8.3 earthquake that occurred in 2001 near Arequipa, Peru. The largest earthquake along the coast of Peru is a magnitude 9 that occurred in 1868. It produced a tsunami that killed several thousand people along the South American coast and also caused damage in Hawaii. [13]