Earthquakes in Peru are common occurrences as the country is located in a seismic zone. The interface between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates is located near the Peruvian coast. The South American Plate is moving over the Nazca Plate at a rate of 77 mm (3.0 in) per year.[1]

Seismic hazard map in Peru

This earthquakes occur as thrust faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American Plate moving towards the sea over the Nazca Plate. The same process has caused the rise of the Andes mountain range and the creation of the Peru–Chile Trench, as well as volcanism in the Peruvian highlands.

Geology of Peru

The oldest rocks in Peru date to the Precambrian and are more than two billion years old. Along the southern coast, granulite and charnockite shows reworking by an ancient orogeny mountain-building event. Situated close to the Peru-Chile Trench, these rocks have anomalously high strontium isotope ratios, which suggest recent calc-alkaline volcanism.

In the Eastern Cordillera of Peru, Precambrian magmatism in the Huanaco region produced ultramafic, mafic and felsic rocks, including serpentinite, meta-diorite, meta-gabbro, meta-tonalite and diorite and granite that intruded after the first phase of orogenic tectonic activity.

The Grenville orogeny had a major impact in Peru. The basement of the Central Andean orogeny includes the rocks of the Arequipa Massif, which reach granulite grade on the sequence of metamorphic facies and formed around 1.9 billion years ago. Zircon grains in these rocks match those in Labrador, Greenland and Scotland, indicating that much of western South America originated as a promontory of the proto-North American continent Laurentia.

Earthquakes

Notable earthquakes in Peruvian history include the following:

Date Location Mag. MMI Deaths Injuries Notes
2022-07-13 Moquegua 5.5 Mw VII 6 Moderate damage [2]
2022-05-27 Ica 5.5 Mw  IV 8 Minor damage [3]
2022-05-26 Puno 7.2 Mw  V Moderate damage/Intermediate depth [4]
2022-05-12 Lima 5.5 Mw  VII 2 11 Moderate damage [5]
2022-03-16 Arequipa 5.5 Mw  VII 6 Severe damage [6][7][8]
2022-02-03 Loreto 6.5 Mw  VI Minor damage/Intermediate depth [9]
2021-11-28 Loreto 7.5 Mw VIII 12 136 Severe damage/Intermediate depth
2021-07-30 Piura 6.2 Mw VII 721 Severe damage
2021-06-22 Lima 5.9 Mw VI 1 20 Moderate damage
2020-06-07 Ancash 4.5 Mw  IV 1 [10]
2019-05-26 Loreto 8.0 Mw VIII 2 30 Intermediate depth [11]
2019-03-01 Puno 7.0 Mw VII 1 2 [12]
2018-01-14 Arequipa 7.1 Mw VII 2 139 [13]
2016-12-01 Puno 6.2 Mw  VII 1 17 40 houses damaged in Lampa Province [14][15]
2016-08-15 Arequipa 5.5 Mw 9 68 605 homes destroyed [16]
2014-09-27 Cusco 5.0 Mw VII 8 60 homes damaged
2012-01-30 Ica 6.4 Mw VI 119 Buildings damaged [17][18]
2011-10-28 Huancavelica 6.9 Mw VII 1 [19]
2007-08-15 Ica 8.0 Mw IX 595 2,291 Severe damage [20][21]
2005-09-26 San Martín 7.5 Mw VI 20 266
2001-06-23 Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna 8.4 Mw IX 74–145 2,713 Tsunami 7 m (23 ft)
1996-11-12 Ica 7.7 Mw VIII 24 Severe damage [22]
1996-02-21 Nazca 7.4 Mw V 12 Moderate damage
1993-04-18 Lima 6.3 Mw 10
1991-04-04 Loreto 6.5 Mw IX 100 Severe damage
1990-05-29 Amazonas 6.8 Mw VIII 300 Great damage in Moyobamba
1986-04-06 Cuzco 6.1 Mw VII 27
1986-01-11 Ancash 5.1 Mw  IV 1 Moderate damage/landslides [23]
1979-02-16 Arequipa 6.8 Mw VIII 100 Severe damage
1974-10-03 Lima 8.1 Mw IX 78 2,400
1970-05-31 Ancash 7.9 Mw VIII 66,794–70,000 50,000 Extreme damage, Major landslide
1970-02-14 Huanuco 6.1 Mw 14
1969-10-01 Junin 6.9 Mw 635 Severe damage
1966-10-17 Lima 8.1 Mw IX 100
1960-11-20 Ica 7.8 Mw VIII 13 Tsunami 9 m (30 ft)
1960-01-13 Arequipa 6.2 Mw 100
1958-01-15 Arequipa 7.0 Mw 69
1953-12-12 Tumbes 7.5 Mw VIII 7 20
1950-05-21 Cuzco 7.0 Mw 1,625 Severe damage
1947-11-01 Junin 7.6 Mw 1,242
1946-11-10 Ancash 7.3 Mw IX 1,400
1943-01-30 Cuzco 6.5 Mw 252
1942-08-24 Ica 8.2 Mw IX 30 Tsunami 1.6 m
1940-05-24 Lima 8.2 Mw 562 Severe damage in Lima
1937-12-24 Pasco 6.8 Mw 194
1928-05-14 Chachapoyas 7.2 Mw X 1,928
1917-05-21 Arequipa 6.1 Mw 32
1914-12-04 Ayacucho 6.7 Mw 400
1913-11-04 Apurímac 6.5 Mw 253
1877-05-09 Tarapaca 8.5 Mw XI 2,385 Major Tsunami
1868-08-13 Arica 8.5–9.3 Mw XI 25,000 Extreme damage, Major tsunami 16 m (52 ft)
1828-03-28 Lima 7.9 Ms 162
1746-10-28 Lima, Callao 9.0 Mw XI 5,941 Major tsunami 24 m (80 ft)
1725-01-06 La Libertad 7.6 Mw 5,000
1716-02-11 Ica 8.6 Muk  X [24]
1716-02-06 Arequipa 8.8 Muk  IX [24]
1687-10-20 Ica 8.7 Mw X 5,000 Major tsunami
1650-05-12 Cuzco 7.7 Mw 460
1650-03-31 Arica 7.0 Ms 5,000
1619-02-14 La Libertad 8.6 Ms 7,364
1609-10-20 Lima 8.6 Muk  VIII [24]
1604-11-24 Arica 8.8 Mw 1,200
1586-07-09 Lima 8.6 Mw 22
1513-??-?? Arequipa 8.7 Muk  VIII [24]
The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

See also

Sources

  1. ^ Tang, Alex K; Johnsson, JöRgen, eds. (2010), Pisco, Peru, Earthquake of August 15, 2007, doi:10.1061/9780784410615, ISBN 978-0-7844-1061-5
  2. ^ "M 5.5 - 14 km WSW of La Capilla, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  3. ^ "M 5.5 - 12 km S of Santiago, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov.
  4. ^ "M 7.2 - 13 km WNW of Azángaro, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  5. ^ "M 5.4 - 11 km WNW of San Bartolo, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  6. ^ "M 5.6 - 5 km E of Huambo, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  7. ^ "Arequipa: 12 sismos en últimas horas causan deslizamientos y daños a viviendas". elbuho.pe (in Spanish). 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Arequipa: tres heridos, 406 afectados y 35 casas inhabitables dejó temblor de magnitud 5,5, según Indeci" (in Spanish). El Comercio. 17 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-03-18. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  9. ^ "M 6.5 - 47 km NW of Barranca, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov. Archived from the original on 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
  10. ^ "Chimbote: Joven muere por paro cardíaco durante temblor". Correo (in Spanish). 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  11. ^ "M 8.0 - 78km SE of Lagunas, Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  12. ^ "M 7.0 - 23km NNE of Azangaro, Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  13. ^ "M 7.1 - 38km SSW of Acari, Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  14. ^ "M6.2 - 22km SW of Vilavila, Peru". United States Geological Survey. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  15. ^ "Sismo en sureste de Perú dejó un muerto y 17 heridos". El Telégrafo (in Spanish). Agence France-Presse. December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  16. ^ "M 5.5 - 11 km SW of Tapay, Peru", United States Geological Survey, 2016-08-15, retrieved 2022-01-02
  17. ^ "M 6.4 - 6 km ESE of Pampa de Tate, Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  18. ^ "Peru 6.2-Magnitude Earthquake Injures 119 and Damages Homes". Business Week. Archived from the original on 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  19. ^ "M 6.9 - near the coast of central Peru". USGS. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  20. ^ "Hoy, hace seis años, Pisco fue sacudido por un terremoto de 7.9 grados" (in Spanish). 15 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017.
  21. ^ "M 8.0 - near the coast of central Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  22. ^ "M 7.7 - near the coast of central Peru". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  23. ^ "M 5.1 - 2 km ENE of Centenario, Peru". earthquake.usgs.gov.
  24. ^ a b c d "NGDC Earthquake Hazard". NGDC.

External links

List of earthquakes in South America
Peru articles
Authority control databases: National
Categories