Very strong dangerous earthquake near Ica, Peru

Last update: January 30, 2012 at 2:43 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell

Shaking map : max : MMI VI – courtesy USGS

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6.3
UTC Time : Monday, January 30, 2012 at 05:11:00 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Monday, January 30, 2012 at 12:11:00 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 39 km
Geo-location(s) :
23 km (14 miles) SE (134°) from Ica, Peru
97 km (60 miles) SSE (147°) from Chincha Alta, Peru

Update 14:40UTC:  Indeci still maintains the figures of 98 injured,  3 people homeless, 10 people in affected houses, 1 destroyed house and 2 damaged, however other reports give much higher damaged buildings estimates.

An intensity of V was seen in Ica, meaning lower damage to be expected. The hypocenter was updated to Ml6.3, but the depth was 54km.  (The epicenter was 47km SW of Ica).

Update 13:40UTC:  The reports from earlier have been confirmed that the cathedral in Ica had several blocks of the roof which fell down, luckily not killing anyone.

Update 12:40UTC: Around 100 people have been injured, however most are not seriously injured with only 12 of these severely injured.

Update 12:00UTC: The statistics remain the same as at 11.00 UTC – 96 people injured, at least 10 houses destroyed, power and water outages.

Update 11:00UTC:
There have been 96 people injured as a result, according to the preliminary damage information provided by Civil Defence authorities. Many houses have been damaged as a result of the earthquake and a number of homeless are expected. At least 10 houses have been deemed uninhabitable.

Some sections of Ica are still without power and water. The wall of the third floor of a house located at the same intersection of the Piura and Chincha avenues near Ica collapsed and crashed into the center of the house after the earthquake in the morning. It did not have any cross bracing.

For persons injured by the earthquake in Ica, the General Office of National Defense, Ministry of Health informed the Emergency Operations Center National INDECI that they have been evacuated to hospitals and health centers for immediate care.

Staff of the National Police of Peru are currently in all the provinces of the Ica region, while the Civil Defense Office of the provincial and district municipalities are conducting an assessment and monitoring test in coordination with the Regional Directorate of INDECI in Ica.

For its part, Ica regional authorities made ​​an assessment visit in the districts of Ocucaje and Santiago in order to determine damage assessment and needs analysis.

INDECI boss, General Alfredo Espinoza Murgueytio, has travelled in the last hours to the city of Ica, to coordinate with the Regional Government authorities and assess the damage caused by the earthquake.

It should be noted that the quake was also felt in the regions of Lima, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Junin and Arequipa.

Update 10:00UTC:  In addition, many sectors of the city of Ica are still without electric service and several homes were badly damaged. Even a few structures that withstood the 2007 earthquake, now collapsed such as the cornice of St. Joseph Church and the old houses near Ica. We at earthquake-report.com believe that there will be significant losses discovered as day breaks. The number of injured is 70 and no deaths have been reported as yet. Power outages however are making information distribution difficult at the moment.

for more information and updates, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/30/very-strong-shallow-dangerous-earthquake-near-ica-peru/