The United States Geological Survey
recorded a Magnitude 8.0 Earthquake at a
depth of 109.9 km, in Alto Amazonas Province, Peru, roughly 75 km
to the southeast of the town of Santiago de Lagunas, slightly after 2.40 am local
time (slight after 7.40 am GMT) on Sunday 26 May 2019. This
event was felt
across much of Peru, and Colombia, as well as parts of northern Chile and Bolivia and eastern Brazil though there
are no reports
of any casualties so far, and damage seems to have been quite local in extent. This is roughly what
would be expected
from an Earthquake of this size at this depth; the quake is big enough
to be felt over a wide area, but most of its energy has dissipated
before the shock-waves reach the surface.
A damaged house in Peru following the 26 May 2019 Earthquake. Bomberos Peru/Twitter.
Peru is on the west coast of South America and the western margin of the South American Plate, close to where the Nazca Plate, which underlies part of the east Pacific, is being subducted along the Peru-Chile Trench. The Nazca Plate passes under the South American Plate as it sinks into the Earth, this is not a smooth process and the plates repeatedly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes. As the Nazca Plate sinks further it is partially melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior. Some of this melted material then rises through the overlying South American Plate, fuelling the volcanoes of Peru and neighbouring countries.
The subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate, and how it causes Earthquakes and volcanoes. Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center.
Witness
accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events,
and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit
organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
See also...
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