The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake at a depth of 100.3 km, beneath Department of Amazonas, Peru, slightly before 11.00 am local time (slightly before 4.00 pm GMT) on Thursday 3 February 2022. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event at this time, although it is reported to have been felt across a wide area of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. This is common with large deep Earthquakes, with the event being felt over a wide area, but relatively little damage, as the energy of the quake is dissipated over a wide area before it reaches the surface.
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.
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