Magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits off Peru, damage reported

The epicentre was 40 kilometres South-southwest of the small town of Acari and centred 36 kilometres below the surface.

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LIMA (PERU): A powerful earthquake struck off Peru's coast early Sunday, destroying adobe structures and killing at least one person, according to officials.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the 4:18 a.m. (0918 GMT) temblor had a magnitude of 7.1, down from an earlier calculation of 7.3. The epicenter was 25 miles (40 kilometers) south-southwest of the small town of Acari in the Arequipa district. It was centered 22 miles (36 kilometers) below the surface.

Arequipa Gov. Yamila Orosio tweeted that at least one person was killed and that there were reports of power outages and collapsed adobe structures.

#Earthquake M7.1 in #Acarí, #Peru. It leaves until the moment 1 death, 16 wounded and multiple damages, the quake felt in the capital, #Lima, as well as in the north of #Chile, the quake provoked a preventive alert of #tsunami emitted by the #PTWC for the coasts of...#EQVT. pic.twitter.com/gmvrkVQgfU

— American Earthquakes (@earthquakevt) January 14, 2018

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned that "hazardous tsunami waves are forecast for some coasts" and that larger-than-normal waves could hit Peru and Chile. But the center then said in a later statement that "there is no longer a tsunami threat from this earthquake" and that the center hadn't observed any tsunami waves.