Less than 24 hours after a 5.3 Richter quake shook the Southern Peruvian cities of Ica and Cañete, another tremor occurred early Thursday morning. The Peruvian Geophysical Institute registered the new quake at 4:01 am local time (9:01 GMT). No injuries or serious damage was immediately reported.
The epicenter of the 4.1 tremor was detected approximately 68 kilometres off the coast of Cañete, located in the department of Lima, and at a depth of 50 kilometers. No victims or material damages were reported.
Wednesday, the cities of Ayacucho, Ica and Cañete felt the effects of the 5.3 quake at 4:30pm local time (21:38 GMT). As in the later tremor, no victims or material damages were reported.
But the quake gave the local population quite a fright, according to Lionel Corrales, Regional Director of Civil Defence in Ica.
“People ran out into the streets. We can still see the traces left behind by the earthquake that occurred on August 15 of last year. People are still in a fragile emotional state,” he said.
The magnitude of Pisco quake last year was 7.9 on the Richter scale and lasted more than two minutes. It destroyed three-quarters of the city centre and killed approximately 500 people. Despite millions of dollars in emergency aid and the help of hundreds of local and international volunteers, most of the quake-shattered town remains in rubble, and reconstruction efforts have been slow.
