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Magnitude 8.0 Earthquake on August 15, 2007 near the coast of Central Peru.
The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU, about 45 km (25 miles) west-northwest of Chincha Alta or about 145 km (90 miles) south-southeast of Lima at 5:40 PM MDT, Aug 15, 2007 (6:40 PM local time in Peru). For more information on this event, see this USGS site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007gbcv.php . Several earthquake aftershocks have occurred subsequent to this event.
At least 650 people killed and 1600 injured in the Ica-Lima-Pisco area. Extensive damage at Chincha Alta, Ica and Pisco. Widespread communications and power outages ocurred in the area. Relief efforts were hindered by cracks in the Panamerican Highway.This earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. The two plates are converging at a rate of 77 mm per year. The earthquake occurred as thrust-faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American plate moving up and seaward over the Nazca plate.
Coastal Peru has a history of very large earthquakes. The August 15 shock originated just south of the source region of the magnitude 8.1 earthquake of October 1974 and just north of the source regions of major earthquakes that occurred in August 1942 (magnitude 7.7) and 1996 (magnitude 7.7). The largest coastal Peru earthquake of the last two centuries was the magnitude 9 earthquake of 1868, which was centered about 700 km southeast of the August 15 earthquake. The 1868 shock produced a tsunami that killed several thousand people along the South American coast and also caused damage in Hawaii.
This earthquake were recorded on instruments in the Kentucky Seismic and Strong Motion Network, operated jointly by the Kentucky Geological Survey and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Kentucky.
The graphic below is the actual record of the earthquake made by 11 Network instruments.
For more information on earthquakes in this region, go to this KGS site: http://www.uky.edu/KGS/geologichazards/ . If you felt this event please report it at Did you feel it?.