Peru capital rocked by earthquake (Mw 7.9)

[Ediacara]

Source: BBC

An earthquake of magnitude at least 7.5 has hit Peru, centred 160km (100 miles) from the capital, Lima, the US Geological Survey reports.

It hit near the town of Chincha Alta, and was 40km (25 miles) below the earth's surface, the USGS said.

The force of the quake shook buildings in the capital in two bursts of about 20 seconds each, witnesses said, and caused some power failures.

A tsunami warning has been issued for Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6948888.stm

---

USGS info (updated as a M_w 7.9, not 7.5 as the article says):

Magnitude 7.9
Date-Time

* Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 23:40:58 UTC
* Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 06:40:58 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 13.322°S, 76.508°W
Depth 40.7 km (25.3 miles)
Region NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
Distances 45 km (25 miles) WNW of Chincha Alta, Peru
110 km (70 miles) NW of Ica, Peru
145 km (90 miles) SSE of LIMA, Peru
195 km (120 miles) SW of Huancayo, Peru
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 6.6 km (4.1 miles); depth +/- 10.9 km (6.8 miles)
Parameters Nst=237, Nph=237, Dmin=152 km, Rmss=0.87 sec, Gp= 58°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7
Source

USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID us2007gbcv

http://earthquakes.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007gbcv.php

[Purveyor]

1. Magnitude 7.9? That is huge, indeed. eom

[Ediacara]

2. Ya, it's very big, and it's 4x greater than their initial magnitude estimate

The large magnitude and shallow depth make this pretty troubling IMHO.

[babylonsister]

3. CNN saying they're seeing indications of a wave/tsunami. nt

[Purveyor]

4. Deadly earthquake strikes Peru; tsunami warning issued

CNN) -- A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck off the coast of central Peru on Wednesday evening, killing 17 people and leaving 70 hurt, Peruvian media reported.

The quake also prompted a tsunami warning for Peru, as well as Chile, Ecuador and Colombia.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center also issued a tsunami watch for Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and Honduras.

Hawaii was under a tsunami advisory, which means there is no current threat to the area, but the threat status is being monitored.

Peru, and most of the South American Pacific Coast, are on border of two tectonic plates: The South American plate, which includes most of the continent, and the Nazca plate, which extends across the Pacific along most of the coast. See a map of where the quake struck »

[Ediacara]

5. The USGS self reporting shake map indicates that people as far away as Bogota felt this

As well as Manaus Brazil (both of these locations are more than 2000 km away). Yikes! It seems as though Lima itself felt some strong shaking, but light damage (according to self reporters), but the town of Imperial, close to the epicenter, got hit pretty hard:

http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ous/STORE/X2007gbcv/ciim_stats_1.html

[Warren Stupidity]

6. That is a big quake.

I was in the Mexico quake of 85 - 8.1 - and that was a monster.

[bananas]

7. aftershocks of magnitude 5.9

http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/redpuma/redpuma_ami_list.html

NOTE: automatic locations are fast, but often not accurate and sometimes completely false!

D a t e Time (UTC) Location Dep Magni. T AGY R e g i o n

16Aug2007 01:02:20.1 13.3S 76.5W 10 M =5.9 M NEI NEAR COAST OF PERU 0146

16Aug2007 00:24:31.9 14.6S 75.9W 26 M =5.6 M NEI NEAR COAST OF PERU 0042

16Aug2007 00:19:15.5 14.4S 76.2W 35 mb=5.8 A*NEI NEAR COAST OF PERU 0100
16Aug2007 00:19:09.2 14.5S 75.9W 10 M =5.9 M*NEI NEAR COAST OF PERU 0040

16Aug2007 00:02:37.6 12.9S 76.5W 10 mb=5.9 A*EMS NEAR COAST OF PERU 0113
16Aug2007 00:02:41.9 12.6S 75.5W 31 M =5.8 M*NEI CENTRAL PERU 0029

15Aug2007 23:40:57.1 13.4S 76.7W 40 MS=7.8 M*GSR NEAR COAST OF PERU 0134
15Aug2007 23:40:57.2 13.3S 76.7W 40 Mw=8.0 M*EMS NEAR COAST OF PERU 0051
15Aug2007 23:40:58.4 13.3S 76.8W 50 Mw=7.5 M*EMS NEAR COAST OF PERU 0038
15Aug2007 23:41:20.4 12.2S 76.6W200 Mw=7.5 M*EMS NEAR COAST OF PERU 0016
15Aug2007 23:40:58.4 13.3S 76.5W 40 M =7.5 M*NEI NEAR COAST OF PERU 0013
15Aug2007 23:41:20.2 12.2S 76.6W178 M =7.5 M*NEI NEAR COAST OF PERU 2357

[Ediacara]

8. Tsunami info

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/ptwc/messages/pacific/2007/pacific.2007.08.16.012152.txt

"TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0126Z 16 AUG 2007

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...
WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

NOTE- PREVIOUS BULLETIN SHOULD HAVE BEEN BULLETIN NUMBER 002

... A TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH ARE IN EFFECT ...

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

PERU / CHILE / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA

A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR

NICARAGUA / GUATEMALA / EL SALVADOR / MEXICO / HONDURAS

FOR ALL OTHER AREAS COVERED BY THIS BULLETIN... IT IS FOR
INFORMATION ONLY AT THIS TIME."

[Ediacara]

10. Hawai'i specific tsunami info (no warning issued yet)

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/pr/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2007/hawaii.2007.08.16.012902.txt

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
329 PM HST WED AUG 15 2007

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI ADVISORY SUPPLEMENT

A TSUNAMI ADVISORY CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0141 PM HST 15 AUG 2007
COORDINATES - 13.5 SOUTH 76.7 WEST
LOCATION - NEAR COAST OF PERU
MAGNITUDE - 7.9 MOMENT
MAGNITUDE - 7.8 RICHTER (MS)

EVALUATION

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS ISSUED AN EXPANDING
REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH FOR PARTS OF THE PACIFIC
LOCATED CLOSER TO THE EARTHQUAKE. AN EVALUATION OF THE PACIFIC
WIDE TSUNAMI THREAT IS UNDERWAY AND THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT
HAWAII COULD BE ELEVATED TO A WATCH OR WARNING STATUS.

IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THEIR ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL
TIME IS

0214 AM HST THU 16 AUG 2007

MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

[Ediacara]

17. Hawai'i advisory has been cancelled

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/hawaii/2007/hawaii.2007.08.16.021055.txt

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 4
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
412 PM HST WED AUG 15 2007

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - FINAL TSUNAMI ADVISORY

THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS ENDED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE
AT 0410 PM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0141 PM HST 15 AUG 2007
COORDINATES - 13.5 SOUTH 76.7 WEST
LOCATION - NEAR COAST OF PERU
MAGNITUDE - 7.9 MOMENT
MAGNITUDE - 7.8 RICHTER (MS)

EVALUATION

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS CANCELLED THE REGIONAL
TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH IT ISSUED FOR OTHER PARTS OF THE
PACIFIC. BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE
TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII AND THE ADVISORY FOR HAWAII IS ALSO
ENDED.

HOWEVER... SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL
NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS
LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS. THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS
MIGHT BEGIN IS

0214 AM HST THU 16 AUG 2007

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

[maddezmom]

9. lighting candles

and saying prayers. :(

[havocmom]

11. Whole lotta shakin goin on all over the place

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

Past two weeks looks like ALL the plates are moving quite a bunch.

Hey, maybe we will wake up in a place where bush/cheney isn't in charge.

[Melynn]

12. I've noticed an increase in earthquakes in the Pacific Rim

the last two weeks. Hope it's not a prelude to something big.

[havocmom]

16. Mid-Atlantic Ridge has had several in tha past two weeks too

Seems most, if not all, the plate edges have moved all over in the past couple weeks.

[Eugene]

13. AP: Strong quake kills at least 17 in Peru

Source: Associated Press

Strong quake kills at least 17 in Peru

By LESLIE JOSEPHS, Associated Press Writer
11 minutes ago

LIMA, Peru - A powerful earthquake shook Peru's coast near
the capital on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people as it
toppled homes and caused many residents to flee buildings.
Authorities said the quake had generated a tsunami of
undetermined size.

Peru's highly respected Cable news station Canal N reported
that the 7.9 magnitude quake had caused a church to
collapse in the city of Ica south of Lima, killing 17 people
and injuring 70.

-snip-

An Associated Press photographer said that homes had
collapsed in the center of Lima and that many people had
fled into the streets for safety. The capital shook for more
than a minute.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070816/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/peru_quake

[maddezmom]

15. very sad

I have a feeling this will be a lot more devastating than initial reports of damage and loss of life. :(

[Ediacara]

14. CNN reports 15+ dead, 70+ injured

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/15/peru.earthquake/index.html

[Up2Late]

18. That's pretty damn big!

And often, when they say 7.9 or 6.9 or 5.9, it ends up being bumped up at least .2 or .3 which make it MUCH bigger.

[Ediacara]

19. Expanded Pacific tsunami warning aparently cancelled

I can't get this page to load:

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/messages/pacific/2007/pacific.2007.08.16.021055.txt

But the link says:

"Expanding Regional Warning Cancellation"

[Up2Late]

20. There have been a Bunch of big quakes the last 2 weeks (or month if you go back to Japan Quake)

Check it out:

# 2007 08 15 - Near the Coast of Central Peru - M 7.9
# 2007 08 15 - Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska - M 6.5
# 2007 08 14 - Island of Hawaii, Hawaii - M 5.4
# 2007 08 08 - Java, Indonesia - M 7.5
# 2007 08 02 - Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska - M 6.7
# 2007 08 01 - Vanuatu - M 7.2

<http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/world/historical.php>

[FourScore]

21. Deadly earthquake strikes Peru

Source: CNN

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck off the coast of central Peru on Wednesday evening, killing 15 people and leaving 70 hurt, President Alan Garcia said on national television.

Peru's Panamericana TV put the death toll at 17. It showed footage of traffic lights in the capital, Lima, swaying with the quake.

After everything stopped shaking, medics were seen tending to a woman.

The video also showed chunks of plaster that had fallen from buildings.

Some Lima residents were sobbing after the temblor, while others appeared to be praying.

"This has been the most terrifying experience we've had," Gladys Tarnawiecki told CNN from her home in Lima...



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/15/peru.earthquake/index.html

[Up2Late]

22. Powerful earthquake kills 115 in Peru; more than 1,000 injured (AFP)

Powerful earthquake kills 115 in Peru; more than 1,000 injured

16/08/2007 08h11
LIMA (AFP) - A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake, the strongest to rock Peru in decades, killed at least 115 people and injured more than 1,000 others, Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said Thursday.

The quake, which lasted for almost two minutes, sent people fleeing into the streets and prompted evacuations cities along South America's Pacific coast, after tsunami warnings were issued.

Those alerts by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, were later canceled.

The earthquake, which struck just offshore Peru at 6:41 pm (2341 GMT) Wednesday, was felt across the country and to the far north in Ecuador....

(more at link) <http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/070816080843.4edo7r5n.html>

[dipsydoodle]

23. Death toll now exceeds 330 - BBC News

A powerful 7.9 earthquake has hit the coast of Peru, killing at least 337 people and injuring hundreds, Peru's civil defence institute has said.
All but one of the deaths were in the coastal province of Ica, about 265km (165 miles) south of the capital, Lima.
>
Low-lying coastal areas in Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia were evacuated after a tsunami alert was issued. The warning was later withdrawn.
>
On its website, the National Institute for Civil Defence said 336 people had been killed in Ica by the earthquake and 827 others injured. One person was killed in Lima.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6948888.stm

[Up2Late]

24. As big as this one was, I bet it ends up as something like 3000 dead...

...injured a can't even begin to guess.

[Ediacara]

25. UPDATE: Peru quake death toll rises to 450; 200 dead in one city

(CNN) -- Sheet-covered bodies lined a street Thursday in Chincha near Peru's southern coast after an earthquake that a U.N. official said has claimed the lives of at least 450 people and injured 1,500 in the South American country.

The new casualty figures came from the deputy emergency relief coordinator for the United Nations, Margareta Wahlstrvm. In addition, she said, almost 400 houses were destroyed.

Hard-hit by the quake was the port city of Pisco, 160 miles (260 kilometers) southeast of Lima.

Arriving in Pisco, Minister of Health Carlos Vallejos told Andina television almost 70 percent of the city of 68,000 people was destroyed.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/08/16/peru.earthquake/index.html

[Seabiscuit]

26. Some asswipe from CNN first reported the quake as being in "South America".

They don't know that Peru is not "South America"? It's a sovereign nation. Have they even ever heard about it, the zenophobic sonsabitches?

Meanwhile, in the background CNN put up a map of Peru showing 2 cities: Lima and Cusco. Cusco is located SE of Lima, yet CNN placed it NNE of Lima. Friggin' idiots.

Peruvians and people from other countries in that continent resent being referred to as "South America" to the point that many of them refer to the U.S., not as "America" but as "North America".

My wife was born in Peru and has over 200 relatives there. Most in Lima. While the quake was a terrifying experience for them, fortunately none were injured. In fact, her mother was just getting ready to leave for the airport to return here when the quake hit. She didn't even have time to check to see what might have fallen or gotten broken. Things did fall from the walls, and a large lamp was toppled onto the floor.

Not so in cities like Pisco to the south where they're finding a lot of dead bodies.

And what does Bush do? Virtually nothing. Death and tragedy are meaningless to that bastard. Aid is already pouring in from all over South America and Europe, yet Bush has a medical ship stationed just outside Lima and won't clear it to help out the Peruvians. He "pledged" a measly $100K. Hundreds of billions to kill people in Iraq and that pathetic amount from the richest nation in the world to help people suffering from a huge natural disaster. As if he'll even deliver on that paucitous promise, given his track record in New Orleans.

[Ediacara]

27. Uh, South America is a real place that Peru happens to be on

FWIW, the quake was felt in Manaus and Bogota over 2000 km away (and also part of South America). Also, it may still be difficult to get news out of the smaller towns that are near to the epicenter where damage is much worse.

Also, the "North America" stuff is not just coming from people in South America, but most New World Spanish speakers because Americans describe themselves as "Americans." They're miffed because in Spanish "americano" means someone from the New World and that there is no word in English that means "Unitedstatesian" as there is in Spanish, "estadounidense."

[Seabiscuit]

29. We "Americans" named it "South America".

We refer to all of those countries as "South America." South Americans don't call themselves "South Americans". They call themselves "Bolivians" or "Peruvians" or Colombians", etc.

The quake occurred in the waters just off the coast of Peru (Peruvian territorial waters). To say there was an earthquake in "South America" is like calling an earthquake in Indonesia an earthquake "in Asia". It's insulting and demeaning to Indonesians as well as to other soverign nations we include in the word "Asia".

We're the only ones who call ourselves "Americans". The Spanish-speaking people in "South American" countries don't call us "estaounidense". They call us "Norte Americanos" simply as a tit-for-tat for Americans referring to them as "South Americans" as if they didn't have their own sovereign countries. The USA, or "America" isn't made up of sovereign countries. It's made up of states belonging to one country. To someone from Peru, for example, the USA is just one country in North America, just as Peru is one country in South America. Just as Indonesia is one country in what we Americans refer to as Asia.

You apparently don't have any relatives who live down there who can tell you how they view things.

[Ediacara]

30. Whatever you say

You're right, and the whole of human knowledge is wrong... :eyes:

ON EDIT: The continent that Peru sits on is called South America. It's called some variant of South America is every language including Spanish. The term North America includes Greenland, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, and the entirety of the Caribbean. These were named more than 400 years ago and were not in any way shape or form named by US citizens. This is a fact, not a fanciful opinion. When you are in a debate concerning facts, it's useful to know what they are.

What's more it is absolutely not an insult to Peruvian sovereignty, nor incorrect in any way to say that an earthquake in Peru happened in South America. I don't know what the hell is making you claim such things, but they're completely nonsense.

Additionally, Americans are called Americans by English speakers as well as speakers of Italian, German, and French. The only ones that actually have a problem with Americans not having a word equivalent to "Unitedstatesian" are Spanish speakers in the Americas.

Lastly, I don't need to have relatives in Peru to understand the problematic nature of the term "American" in the Spanish language. What I've said is the real version of reality and what you're arguing is the same thing only without really grasping the nature of it.

[SayWhatYo]

31. If a large earthquake hit somewhere near the US-Canadian border, would you fault someone for saying

it took place in North America?

I think you're looking for something to be outraged about. Is "Norte Americanos" offensive? If someone wants to call me that then it fine with me, after all, it is accurate. It would be even more accurate if they were referring to citizens of the US and Canada, of course. eg.. "OMG, NORTE AMERICANOS ARE LAZY AND DRIVE IN EVERYWHERE THEY GO". Doesn't seem like much to be outraged about, aye?

Also, nearly everyone I've spoke to from around the world have used the term South America. I mean wtf? Should we not refer to Continents anymore? No more saying Europe or Africa? Why stop there? Maybe we ought to refer to specific cities instead. After all, most countries are have many different areas with various cultures.

[Seabiscuit]

32. I'm just reporting how Peruvians and others in "South America" feel about it.

I also referenced in my original post how CNN got the map of Peru wrong - placing Cusco a few hundred miles north of where it's located. I personally got the impression that whoever put that story together about the earthquake in Peru had never even heard of the country.

People here can say I'm "wrong", and that what Peruvians and other South Americans are saying is "wrong". But that's how they see it.

[Seabiscuit]

34. I think you missed the point.

CNN showed a map of Peru in the background of its broadcast (which didn't even name the country by its name) showing only two cities: Lima and Cusco. They placed Cusco several hundred miles north of its actual location. Then the guy doing the talking mentioned an earthquake in "South America" without ever naming Peru by name. It made CNN look ignorant and ethnocentric with respect to countries in South America.

The earthquake occurred in Peru's territorial waters. Imagine if there was an earthquake in Los Angeles and a major broadcast in another country showed a picture of the United States in the background with only two cities, San Francisco and New York, and placed New York where Kansas is. Then the announcer says there was an eartquake in North America, never mentioning the United States, California, or Los Angeles. I imagine most Americans viewing such a broadcast would consider that broadcaster to be ignorant and backwards, and biased against the United States.

Your attempted analogy is off base as well: you can't compare an earthquake that occurs on our border with Canada with an earthquake in Peru's territorial waters, far from any of Peru's borders with neighboring countries. A better analogy would be to say that when Katrina hit Florida (far from the Canadian border) prior to entering the Gulf of Mexico broadcast stations in some other country said "a hurricane hit North America".

[Seabiscuit]

28. Update: 510 dead and counting...

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/17/america/LA-GEN-Peru-Quake.php

[DU GrovelBot]

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[ohio2007]

35. the looters and murders are now threatening the area

Anxious Peru Quake Survivors Loot Market

PISCO, Peru (AP) - Hungry earthquake survivors ransacked a public market Friday, while other mobs looted a refrigerated trailer and blocked aid trucks, prompting Peru's president to appeal for calm. Aid finally arrived to the disaster zone after about 36 hours without much help.

Few buildings still stood in the fishing city of Pisco Friday in the wake of a magnitude-8 earthquake that killed 510 people. Many of the structures not reduced to rubble were rickety deathtraps waiting to fall.

President Alan Garcia, on the scene for the second straight day, vowed that no one would die of hunger or thirst.


snip

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070818/D8R34R2O0.html


kinda follows the "Katrina pattern" where the government makes promises they can't keep

[Myrina]

36. .. when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy ...

:hippie:

[ohio2007]

37. Spanish rescue team shot at during post-quake rescue

ICA: A Spanish team helping with rescue efforts in quake-hit southern Peru was shot at Saturday, sparking alarm but resulting in no injuries, a member of the squad said.

The K9 team, which was using sniffer dogs to try to find any bodies in the rubble of a collapsed building near the centre of the town of Pisco, was shot at "twelve times" by an unknown person or persons, member Loli Marquez was quoted as saying by telephone.

snip

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp?id=27762

I'm sure it's being overplayed by the media......