7.2-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes off the Coast of Peru

A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Peru in the early hours of Friday. The tremor was felt as far as the country’s capital, Lima, approximately 600 miles away, as reported by the United States Geological Survey (U.S.G.S).

The earthquake occurred at 12:36 a.m. local time, about a mile off the coast of Peru’s Arequipa region. Following the seismic event, Peruvian authorities issued a tsunami alert for the country’s coast, with warnings that waves could potentially reach the town of Puerto Atico by 12:52 a.m. local time.

Social media videos captured the impact of the earthquake, showing furniture and security cameras shaking for nearly half a minute, even in Lima, a considerable distance from the epicenter.

The aftermath of the earthquake included aftershocks measuring 4.2 and 4.0 in magnitude, recorded off the coast of Arequipa, according to Peru’s National Seismological Center.

Peru is situated along a plate boundary that extends along South America’s western coast. Notably, the most potent earthquake ever recorded, a 9.6-magnitude temblor in 1960, occurred along this boundary in Chile, as noted by the U.S.G.S.