MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru hit by earthquake also felt in Bolivia, Brazil and Chile

The tremor was recorded at a depth of 258 km in the department of Puno, at around 4.50 am local time

An earthquake measuring 7.0 degrees on the Richter scale Friday rattled southern Peru, 67 km (41 miles) north-northwest of Juliaca, near the Bolivian border, it was reported.

The tremor was recorded at a depth of 258 km, about 16 miles north of Azangaro, in the department of Puno, at around 4.50 am local time. It was also felt in neighbouring Brazil, Bolivia and Chile.

Peru's National Weather Service had not issued a tsunami warning and no reports on damages or casualties was made available in the hours following the episode. A 7.5 degree earthquake had hit eastern Ecuador a week earlier, in the province of Morona Santiago, in Amazonia near the Peruvian border.

In Chile, the National Emergency Office of the Ministry of the Interior (ONEMI) ordered a preventive evacuation in the Arica and Parinacota regions due to a tsunami threat, but later halted it.

Chile's Minister of the Interior Andrés Chadwick explained the evacuation of people was carried out uneventfully. Chadwick added school classes and other activities took place in the usual manner.

Peru's Seismology Centre Director Sergio Barrientos warned there might be a few replicas associated with this earthquake.