Earthquake Strikes Lima, Peru, Hawaii Tsunami Warnings Follow

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake has very recently striked the coast of Peru, roughly about ninety miles south of the capital Lima. There have been many reports of homes and businesses being destroyed, including many (unconfirmed) lives taken.

The fear of a tsunami is now in the air with Hawaii being on alert.

The heaviest damage is said to have occurred in Arequipa, known as Peru’s “white city” because of its great architecture and churches.

Unfortunately, television pictures did show one of the towers of the city’s cathedral had collapsed, scattering rubble in the street, and another was very badly damaged.

The BBC’s South America correspondent Tom Gibb says “the earthquake struck in the afternoon, giving the rescue services only a few hours of daylight.”

Peru was devastated with a horrific 7.7 magnitude earthquake in 1970 that killed approximately 70,000 people, let’s hope this one is nowhere near as catastrophic.