Magnitude-8 earthquake hits Amazon jungle in Peru

A strong 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck northern Peru in the early hours of Sunday, sending residents fleeing from their homes but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

The quake, at an “intermediate depth” of around 110km, was felt around the country and even hundreds of miles away in the capital city of Lima, local authorities reported.

“Some casualties and damage are possible and the impact should be relatively localised,” the US Geological Survey said, in a preliminary assessment.

Quakes of similar depth “typically cause less damage on the ground surface (but)… may be felt at great distance from their epicentres,” it said.

Peru sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” where the majority of the world’s seismic activity occurs.

The earthquake was around 75km SSE of Lagunas and 180 km east of the town of Moyobamba, the USGS said.

There were local reports of electric power cuts in the cities of Iquitos and Tarapoto, Amazonian towns in the Loreto region of the country.

In February a quake measuring 7.5 with its epicentre in neighbouring Ecuador rattled the coast and Amazon region of northern Peru.

It left nine people injured and caused damage in Ecuador, but Peru was unscathed.

Peru is located in a seismically active region, and on January 14 last year a quake measuring 7.3 killed two people and toppled buildings near the southern city of Arequipa.