Magnitude 6.9 Strikes Peru's Capitol

"There was panic, a lot of panic" - Ruben Vargas, policía de Ica

Image courtesy: ibnlive.in.com

(LIMA, Peru) - Southern Peru was shaken by an earthquake Friday measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale; buildings rocked and swayed in the country's capitol Lima, home of 8.5 million people, but fortunately no injuries or major damage has been reported.

The US Geological Survey confirms that the temblor, which was initially reported as a magnitude 7.0 quake, was centered 51 km (31 miles) SSW of Ica, Peru, the scene of a terrible earthquake in 2007 that claimed many lives, and also left many unnerved.

RPP radio in Peru said that in cities along the southern coast, people ran out of their homes in panic initially, but were mainly only subjected to the loss of cell phone signals and isolated electricity outages.

Hernan Tavera, a seismologist at Peru's government-run Institute of Geophysics, told RPP the 2007 quake released 33 times more energy than Friday's temblor.

Tavera says the difference is that this time, "the radius of action was far wider."

Ruben Vargas with the police department in Ica, told MSNBC, "There was panic, a lot of panic."

In terms of economic impact, one official with base metals miner Southern Copper Corp. told reporters that that so far, there was no news about any damage.

The company's mines are located in the southern regions of Peru.