MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ring of fire hits central Peru and the Napa Valley in California

The epicenter of the quake was about 26 miles northeast of a region called Tambo, which is more than 290 miles from Lima

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck central Peru late on Sunday, and no immediate reports have surfaced about significant damage or major injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey originally estimated the earthquake to be a magnitude 7 but has since downgraded it, according to The Weather Channel. The impact was also felt in northern Chile.

 Mario Casareto, spokesman for Peru's fire agency, said officials are still investigating the areas around the epicenter, and until those are complete, he cannot be sure about damage or casualties caused by the quake.

The earthquake forced people in Peru's Ayacucho region to evacuate their homes and head for a festival ground and caused cellular and power outages in the city of Cusco.
Shaking from the quake was reported as far away as Lima, Peru's capital, and Arequipa.

The epicenter of the quake was about 26 miles northeast of a region called Tambo, which is more than 290 miles from Lima. It struck about 36 miles below the Earth's surface.

According to a report from Chile's National Emergency Office (Onemi) the quake was also felt in the north of the country: in Arica, with an intensity of III on the Mercalli scale, and in Iquique and Alto Hospicio, with an intensity of II.

The National Seismological Centre (NSC) of Chile reported the quake had a magnitude of 6.8 Richter, centered 310 kilometers southeast of Pisco, at a depth of 157 kilometers.

Meanwhile, Chile's Navy Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service (SHOA) published a report that ruled out the likelihood of a tidal wave, stating that the strong earthquake did not meet the conditions necessary to generate a tsunami along the national coast.

Earthquakes are fairly common in Peru, as well as Chile and many other countries around that area of the Pacific Ocean, which is known as the Ring of Fire because of its seismic activity. Peru has been regularly hit with some of the most powerful earthquakes on record, according to the USGS.

Peru's earthquake struck just hours after a magnitude 6 earthquake hit near Napa Valley, California, injuring more than 100 people in that area. Sunday's quake was the strongest to hit California since the 1989 earthquake, which occurred during the World Series that year.

Early damage reports estimate that the quake could eventually cost the area more than $1 billion, especially considering the Napa wine harvest has already started.

The epicenter was about six miles southwest of Napa, California, and 51 miles southwest of the state capital of Sacramento. Several aftershocks followed, and residents on Monday were still wary of further seismic activity.