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Regional Location:
Preliminary Magnitude: Greenwich Mean Date: |
SOUTHERN PERU
Ms 8.2 (NEIC), Mw 8.1 (NEIC), Mw 8.0 (HRV) 01/06/23 |
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| Seismo-Watch Significant Earthquake Reports- No. 01-019 | |||||||||||
| More Special Earthquake Reports | |||||||||||
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| SOUTHERN PERU, JUNE 23, 2001 (Seismo-Watch) -- A very strong earthquake measuring Ms 8.2 (NEIC), Mw 8.1 (NEIC), Mw 8.0 (Harvard) occurred at 20:33:14 UTC (3:33 p.m. local time), June 23, along the coast of south-central Peru, causing widespread damage, killing over a hundred people and generating a tsunami that swept the southern Peruvian coastlines clean and conctrbuted to the loss of life.
The quake happened mid afternoon on a clear winter day and was centered along the Peruvian coast about 375 miles southeast of Lima, 120 miles west of Arepuipa, 70 northwest of Camana, and 51 miles northwest of Ocona and just inland from the mouth of the Ocona River (See Local Epicentral Map). The focal depth was only 9 km beneath the surface, rather shallow considering the large magnitude, suggesting surface fault ruptures are likely. The NEIC fault plane solution indicated the earthquake occurred along a steeply dipping, northwest trending plane while the Harvard fault plane solution suggested a moderate dip. Both monitoring centers reported Moment magnitudes in the lower M8 range. Update: Further data analysis indicates that the earthquake may have registered as large as M8.3. See the NEIC "revised" fault plane solution here. See a list of M8+ earthquake since 1970 here. Damage and Injuries Widespread structural damage is reported Peru's second largest city, Arequipa, known for historical colonial buildings. The quake broke the steeple on its landmark cathedral. Landslides were common in the mountainous regions, blocking roads, disrupting communication lines and conrtibuting to the loss of property and life. Some bridges were said to be damaged, to what exent is unkown at this time. Rescuers searched through rubble for survivors and the outgoing President Paniagua has pledged relief efforts to the damaged effected region. The President-elect Alejandro Toledo postponed his visit to the United States in favor of aiding in the relief efforts. Aid poured in from concerned countries and greatly enhanced the relief efforts to the wounded and homeless. After repairing roads and clearing of landslides, relief works headed to Moquegua where they found widespread destruction. Preliminary estimates indicate at least 80% of the of the buildings were destroyed or ruined (see photo to the right). Aftershocks Tsunami Locally, the tsuuami may have been much stronger and sketchy reports indicate the costal towns of Camana and Chala were devastated by three consecutive waves bursting through a sea wall, reaching possibly as high as 4 meters (13 feet). CNN had shown a brief film clip of a beach community which was devastated by a tsunami. Few items were left from the town that consisted of a couple dozen buildings, just foundations and a few walls. High watermarks could be seen on the shore inland from the town, clearly taller than a man. One news story briefly reported on the tsunami damage. Background Large earthquake activity on the planet has been relatively quiet since late February, but activity seems to have swung around again, producing two M7s already in June.
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| See a local epicenter map. | |||||||||||
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| An overview of the Peruvian highland town of Moquegua partially destroyed by a major earthquake that shook the south of the country, June 25, 2001. Thousands of Peruvians struggled to patch their homes and lives back together after an earthquake of at least 7.9 magnitude killed 70 people and left tens of thousands homeless. (Paco Sanseviero/Reuters) | |||||||||||
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| Seismo-Watch, Inc. P.O. Box 18012 , Reno, NV 89511-8012 Toll Free 24 hour Message Line 1-800-852-2960 Office: 775-852-0992 / Fax: 775-852-3226 e-mail: info@seismo-watch.com |
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