Here is the Washington Post’s live blog on the 7.5-magnitude earthquake that struck Peru Friday:
Peru: 7.5-magnitude earthquake triggers tsunami
Peru: Death toll up to 2,000, 10 days after devastating floods
U.S. State Department: Discussing Peruvian earthquake with Peruvian government
The earthquake hit Friday morning at 6:50 a.m. local time and damaged a number of towns in eastern Peru, the country’s Ministry of Interior said. The town of Miraflores is particularly badly hit. Death toll is the latest subject of day-long debate, as Peru is estimating the figure from preliminary health statistics. Some estimates have the number as high as 40,000. In 2010, landslides in the Andes killed 2,000 people. The U.S. State Department calls the disaster a “major earthquake” and says it is “currently assisting” the U.S. embassy. “The earthquake’s earthquake-caused waves have caused the evacuation of thousands of Peruvians, including medical personnel, from hard-hit coastal towns,” the State Department said in a statement.
With more than 100 aftershocks, the magnitude-7.5 quake highlights the still-unfolding tragedy in Peru. It was more powerful than the 1985 quake that killed 20,000 people. “This is the worst earthquake to hit this region since 1979,” said Eduardo Roca Ayala, a geophysicist with the Andean Climate Observatory in the city of Cusco. “This is a zone like the San Andreas, where earthquakes happen frequently.”