earthquake
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck southeastern Peru on Friday but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

It hit in the Andes region in a sparsely populated area.

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was at a depth of 257 kilometres (160 miles). The agency said most big quakes in South America occur at a maximum depth of 70 kilometres.

The quake hit at 0850 GMT about 27 kilometres northeast of the town of Azangaro, near the border with Bolivia.

"At the moment, some rocks have been reported falling onto roads, but without any damage to persons or material damage," the National Emergency Operations Center said several hours after the quake.

Last week a quake measuring 7.5 with its epicentre in neighbouring Ecuador rattled the coast and Amazon region of northern Peru.

It left nine people injured and caused damage in Ecuador, but Peru was unscathed.

Peru is located in a seismically active region, and on January 14 last year a quake measuring 7.3 killed two people and toppled buildings near the southern city of Arequipa.

Source: AFP