Earthquake in Peru 2007
| Earthquake in Peru 2007 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| date | August 15, 2007 | ||
| Time | 23:40 UTC (18:40 local time) | ||
| intensity | IX on the MM scale | ||
| Magnitude | 8.0 M W | ||
| depth | 39 km | ||
| epicenter |
13 ° 19 ′ 12 ″ S , 76 ° 30 ′ 36 ″ W
(50 km west of Chincha Alta )
|
||
| country | Peru | ||
| Affected places | |||
| Tsunami | Yes | ||
| dead | 514 | ||
| Injured | 1,090 | ||
|
|
|||
The 2007 Peru earthquake was a very strong earthquake that occurred on August 15, 2007 on the coast of the Andean state of Peru in South America . The earthquake started at 23:40:56 UTC (18:40:56 local time) and lasted about two minutes. The hypocenter was about 150 km southeast of Lima at a depth of 30 km. More than 500 people were killed and over 1,600 injured.
The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake reached M W = 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale .
Tsunami warning
Due to the strength of the tremors, a tsunami warning had been issued for Peru, Ecuador , Chile and Colombia . Such a warning had also been published for Panama , Costa Rica , Nicaragua , Guatemala , El Salvador , Mexico and Honduras , which was lifted after a wave only 25 centimeters high hit the coast.
The Japan Meteorological Agency also issued a warning that the Japanese island of Hokkaidō could be reached by a tidal wave on Thursday, August 16 at around 19:00 UTC.
consequences
More than 510 people were killed and 1,600 injured in the earthquake.
The cities of Ica , San Vicente de Cañete and Chincha Alta were hardest hit by the earthquake, but damage was also recorded in Pucallpa , Iquitos , Contamana , Trujillo , Cajamarca and the capital Lima . In Ica, 17 people were killed in a church and over 70 were injured when it collapsed. They had attended a Catholic mass on the occasion of the Assumption Day .
The town of Pisco , about 260 km southeast of Lima, alone contributed more than two hundred deaths to the casualty record and was 80 percent destroyed. In total, more than 85,000 houses were destroyed by the earthquake.
An aftershock with a magnitude of 5.8 occurred at 7:02 p.m. local time and had its epicenter 113 km northeast of Chincha Alta. Another aftershock had its epicenter at 19:19 local time, 48 km south-southwest of Ica. Of the more than 70 recorded aftershocks, at least a dozen more were stronger than 5.0 on the magnitude scale.
In an airlift from Pisco, the local airport flew injured people to Lima who could not be treated in the local hospitals.
Tectonic overview
The hypocenter of the quake was at a point where the Nazca plate slides under the South American plate . Both plates move towards each other at an annual rate of 78 mm. The Peruvian coast is therefore regularly affected by sometimes strong earthquakes. The earthquake of August 15, 2007 struck almost the same spot as two previous strong earthquakes, 1908 and 1974. The strongest earthquake in Peru occurred in 1868 and had a magnitude of 9. At that time, a tsunami had been caused that along the South American Pacific coast Killed thousands and caused significant damage to Hawaii as well .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Magnitude 8.0 - NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU . USGS . Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ↑ tsunami warnings issued after earthquake in Peru . Reuters . Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ↑ Magnitude 7.9 earthquake jolts Peru . MSNBC . Retrieved August 16, 2007.
- ↑ Tsunamis caused by Peru earthquake might reach Japan . Japan News Review . Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 16, 2007.
- ↑ Stern : “Over 510 dead, no water, no electricity” , August 17, 2007
- ↑ Leslie Josephs: Strong Quake Kills at Least 17 in Peru . Associated Press . Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ^ Dead scattered in the streets of quake-ravaged Peru , CNN . August 16, 2007.
- ↑ a b Deadly Earthquake Strikes Peru , CNN . August 15, 2007.
- ↑ Instituto de unas 70 Geofísico Informo Replicas tras el terremoto ( Spanish ) Peru21. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
- ↑ US Geological Survey : Magnitude 8.0 - NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU ( Memento June 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 17, 2007
