Magnitude-7.0 quake strikes off south Peru coast

AP

LIMA, Peru (AP) — An offshore earthquake with a reported magnitude of 7.0 shook much of Peru on Wednesday but only minor damage and no injuries were reported in the sparsely populated southwestern coastal area near the epicenter.

The quake broke windows and opened fissures in the walls of some adobe dwellings in the nearest sizeable town, Acari, its mayor, Carlos Mejia, told the TV station Canal N. He reported no injuries in the mining town of about 4,000 residents.

Sand shaken loose by the quake partially blocked a 1-mile (2-kilometer) section of the Panamerican Highway, said officer Luis Miguel Vizcarra of the highway patrol in the nearby town of Chala.

The quake was felt mildly in Lima, 310 miles (500 kilometers) away and caused swaying in Arequipa, about 170 miles away (300 kilometers). A tsunami warning was not issued.

"Most people felt it, not everyone," said Jose Vasquez, deputy director of civil defense in Arequipa. "It lasted a little bit. It wasn't a big shake, just a release, like the movement of a hammock."

The quake's epicenter was 28 miles (46 kilometers) south of Acari and it hit at 11:42 a.m. local time (1642 GMT) at a depth of 27 miles (46 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said.