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By LESLIE JOSEPHS, Associated Press Writer
9 minutes ago
LIMA, Peru - A powerful earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital on Wednesday, toppling some houses in Lima and causing alarmed residents to flee into the street for safety. A tsunami warning was issued for South America's Pacific coast based on the strength of the quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.5 magnitude temblor hit about 90 miles southeast of Lima at a depth of 25 miles. It was followed by two strong aftershocks that registered at magnitudes 5.8 and 5.9.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. Associated Press reporters said the quake shook Lima for more than a minute and that some homes had collapsed in the city's center.
Firefighters said some street lights and windows shattered in Lima and that hundreds of workers were evacuated from office buildings and remained outside, fearing aftershocks.
The quake also knocked out telephone service and mobile phone service in the capital. Firefighters were called to put out a fire in a shopping center.
Callers to Radio Programas, Peru's main news station, said parts of several cities in southern Peru had been hit with blackouts.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the coasts of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, and a tsunami watch from Panama to Mexico.
It also issued a tsunami advisory for the U.S. state of Hawaii. The center said it did not know if a tsunami had been generated.
The last time a quake of magnitude 7.0 or larger struck Peru's central coast was in 1974 when a magnitude 7.6 hit in October followed by a 7.2 a month later.
The latest Peru quake occurred in a subduction zone where one section of the Earth's crust dives under another, said USGS geophysicist Dale Grant at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.
Some of the world's biggest quakes strike in subduction zones including the catastrophic Indian Ocean temblor in 2004 that generated deadly tsunami waves.
9 minutes ago
LIMA, Peru - A powerful earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital on Wednesday, toppling some houses in Lima and causing alarmed residents to flee into the street for safety. A tsunami warning was issued for South America's Pacific coast based on the strength of the quake.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the 7.5 magnitude temblor hit about 90 miles southeast of Lima at a depth of 25 miles. It was followed by two strong aftershocks that registered at magnitudes 5.8 and 5.9.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. Associated Press reporters said the quake shook Lima for more than a minute and that some homes had collapsed in the city's center.
Firefighters said some street lights and windows shattered in Lima and that hundreds of workers were evacuated from office buildings and remained outside, fearing aftershocks.
The quake also knocked out telephone service and mobile phone service in the capital. Firefighters were called to put out a fire in a shopping center.
Callers to Radio Programas, Peru's main news station, said parts of several cities in southern Peru had been hit with blackouts.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the coasts of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, and a tsunami watch from Panama to Mexico.
It also issued a tsunami advisory for the U.S. state of Hawaii. The center said it did not know if a tsunami had been generated.
The last time a quake of magnitude 7.0 or larger struck Peru's central coast was in 1974 when a magnitude 7.6 hit in October followed by a 7.2 a month later.
The latest Peru quake occurred in a subduction zone where one section of the Earth's crust dives under another, said USGS geophysicist Dale Grant at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.
Some of the world's biggest quakes strike in subduction zones including the catastrophic Indian Ocean temblor in 2004 that generated deadly tsunami waves.
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