By DPA
Washington : Several earthquakes measuring upto 7 on the Richter scale hit Peru late Wednesday and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued a tsunami warning for the west coast of South America.
Two quakes of 7.5 and 5.8 magnitude struck areas south of Lima within 20 minutes of each other, the US Geological Survey said. The strongest struck about 46 km southeast of Lima, at a depth of 178 km at about 2341 GMT.
The weaker one hit about 178 km east southeast of Lima, at a depth of 31 km, at 0002 GMT Thursday.
A third earthquake, also of 7.5 degrees magnitude, struck 148 km south south-east of Lima, at a depth of 40 km, in the same timeframe. Details of damages were not available.
A woman reached via telephone in Lima told CNN that it was the “most terrifying experience” her family had ever had.
They had fled their building, and public warning systems had warned of a possible tsunami, she said.
“Earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometres of the earthquake epicentre,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.
The tsunami warning, which affects Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, indicates that experts expect a large ocean wave could be headed to the coast, a US Geological Survey official told CNN.
Lesser tsunami warnings were issued for Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and Honduras.