A Peru earthquake of magnitude 6.7 shook the southern Andes Mountains on Thursday at 1 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT), centered in Parinacochas province in the Ayacucho region. Officials said there was no immediate damage, and the Peruvian Navy reported no tsunami threat.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was 38 kilometers northwest of Upahuacho and 66 kilometers deep, about 41 miles. Residents and officials in Ica and Arequipa felt the shaking, putting several southern regions in the same alert window even as the first checks came back clear.
Civil Defense checks in Parinacochas province
Luis Vásquez, head of Civil Defense, told local radio station RPP that “no damage of any kind has been reported so far.” Yony Reyes said there were no reports of damage in the provincial capital. Those early statements gave the clearest picture of the first hours after the quake: a strong tremor, a wide felt area, and no immediate sign of structural loss.
The response matters because the quake arrived in a country that sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where major shaking is part of the operating reality rather than an isolated event. Peru also has recent memory of a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in a province of the Ica region in 2007 that left nearly 600 people dead, which is why even a no-damage report draws quick attention from local officials and coastal monitors.
Peru and tsunami risk
The Peruvian Navy’s no-tsunami message narrowed the risk picture further for communities watching the coastline and for residents weighing whether to move to higher ground. With the first assessment showing no immediate damage and no tsunami threat, attention shifts to whether any later reports change the initial picture after the first round of checks.
