Earthquakes in Peru are common occurrences as the country is located in a seismic zone. The interface between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates is located near the Peruvian coast. The South American plate is moving over the Nazca plate at a rate of per year.

This earthquakes occur as thrust faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the South American plate moving towards the sea over the Nazca plate. The same process has caused the rise of the Andes mountain range and the creation of the Peru–Chile Trench, as well as volcanism in the Peruvian highlands.

Geology of Peru The oldest rocks in Peru date to the Precambrian and are more than two billion years old. Along the southern coast, granulite and charnockite shows reworking by an ancient orogeny mountain-building event. Situated close to the Peru-Chile Trench, these rocks have anomalously high strontium isotope ratios, which suggest recent calc-alkaline volcanism.

In the Eastern Cordillera of Peru, Precambrian magmatism in the Huanaco region produced ultramafic, mafic and felsic rocks, including serpentinite, meta-diorite, meta-gabbro, meta-tonalite and diorite and granite that intruded after the first phase of orogenic tectonic activity.

The Grenville orogeny had a major impact in Peru. The basement of the Central Andean orogeny includes the rocks of the Arequipa Massif, which reach granulite grade on the sequence of metamorphic facies and formed around 1.9 billion years ago. Zircon grains in these rocks match those in Labrador, Greenland and Scotland, indicating that much of western South America originated as a promontory of the proto-North American continent Laurentia.

Earthquakes Notable earthquakes in Peruvian history include the following: Date Location MMI Deaths Injuries Notes Citations2026-07-19Junín5.5 MwVII6200Severe damage2025-12-27Chimbote6.2 MwVI53Moderate damage2025-06-15Callao5.6 MwVI2135Severe damage 2024-06-28Arequipa7.2 MwVIII20Moderate damage2023-03-18Tumbes6.8 MwVII2Several Severe damage in Tumbes2022-07-13Moquegua5.5 MwVII6Moderate damage2022-05-27Ica5.5 IV8Minor damage2022-05-26Puno7.2 MwVII87Moderate damage2022-05-12Lima5.5 VII211Moderate damage 2022-03-16Arequipa5.5 VII6Severe damage2022-02-03Loreto6.5 VIMinor damage/Intermediate depth2021-11-28Loreto7.5 VIII12136Severe damage/Intermediate depth2021-07-30Piura6.2 MwVII721Severe damage2021-06-22Lima5.9 MwVI120Moderate damage2020-06-07Ancash4.5 IV 12019-05-26 Loreto 8.0 Mw VIII 2 30 Intermediate depth 2019-03-01 Puno 7.0 Mw VII 1 2 2018-08-24Madre de Dios7.1 IIIGreat depth2018-01-14 Arequipa 7.1 VII 2 139 2016-12-01 Puno6.2 VII11740 houses damaged in Lampa Province2016-08-15 Arequipa 5.5 9 68 605 homes destroyed2015-11-25Ucayali7.6 V2015-11-25Madre de Dios7.6 IV2014-09-27 Cusco 5.0 VII 8 60 homes damaged 2013-09-25Arequipa7.1 MwVIII190 homes damaged2012-01-30 Ica 6.4 Mw VI 119 Buildings damaged 2011-10-28 Huancavelica 6.9 Mw VII 1 2011-08-24Ucayali7.0 MwVI120Buildings damaged2007-08-15 Ica 8.0 Mw 595 2,291 Extreme damage 2005-09-26 San Martín 7.5 Mw VI 20 266 Buildings damaged2001-07-07Arequipa7.6 MwVII3Aftershock2001-06-23 Arequipa 8.4 Mw 74–145 2,713 Tsunami 7 m (23 ft) 1996-11-12 Ica 7.7 Mw VIII 24 Severe damage 1996-02-21 Nazca 7.4 Mw V 12 Moderate damage 1993-04-18 Lima 6.3 Mw 10 1991-04-04 Loreto 6.5 Mw 100 Severe damage 1990-05-29 Amazonas 6.8 Mw VIII 300 Great damage in Moyobamba 1986-04-06 Cuzco 6.1 Mw VII 27 1986-01-11Ancash5.1 IV1Moderate damage/landslides 1979-02-16 Arequipa 6.8 Mw VIII 100 Severe damage 1974-10-03 Lima 8.1 Mw 78 2,400 1970-12-10Tumbes7.6 MsX82350Moderate damage1970-05-31 Ancash 7.9 Mw VIII 66,794–70,000 50,000 Extreme damage, Major landslide 1970-02-14 Huanuco 6.1 Mw 14 1969-10-01 Junin 6.9 Mw 635 Severe damage 1966-10-17 Lima 8.1 Mw 100 1963-08-15Puno7.7 1Great depth1960-11-20 Lambayeque 7.8 Mw VIII 13 Tsunami 9 m (30 ft) 1960-01-15Ica7.1 MwVII1Minor damage1960-01-13 Arequipa 7.8 Ms X 63 200Moderate damage1958-01-15 Arequipa 7.0 Mw 69 1953-12-12 Tumbes 7.5 Mw VIII 7 20 1950-05-21 Cuzco 7.0 Mw 1,625 Severe damage 1947-11-01 Junin 7.6 Mw 1,242 1946-11-10 Ancash 7.3 Mw 1,400 1943-01-30 Cuzco 6.5 Mw 252 1942-08-24 Ica 8.2 Mw IX 30 Tsunami 1.6 m 1940-05-24 Lima 8.2 Mw 562 Severe damage in Lima 1937-12-24 Pasco 6.8 Mw 194 1928-05-14 Chachapoyas 7.2 Mw X 1,928 1922-10-11Arequipa7.2 MwIntermediate depth1922-01-17Loreto7.9 MwIVShallow Earthquake1921-12-18Loreto7.3 MwIIIShallow Earthquake1917-05-21 Arequipa 6.1 Mw 32 1914-12-04 Ayacucho 6.7 Mw 400 1914-02-26Arequipa7.2 MbShallow Earthquake1913-11-04 Apurímac 6.5 Mw 253 1913-08-06Arequipa7.9 MsX23Great Damage1906-12-26Tacna7.9 MsShallow Earthquake1906-09-28Loreto7.5 MbVIShallow Earthquake1877-05-09 Tarapacá 8.8 Mw XI 2,385 Major Tsunami 1869-08-24Arequipa8.4 Ms1868-08-13 Arica 9.0 Mw XI 25,000 Extreme damage, Major tsunami 16 m (52 ft) 1828-03-30 Lima 8.3 Ms 162 1821-07-10Arequipa8.2 Ms VII1784-03-13 Arequipa 8.4 X 400 Tsunami 1746-10-28 Lima, Callao 9.0 XI 5,941 Tsunami 1725-01-06 La Libertad 7.6 Mw 5,000 1716-02-11 Ica 8.6 X 1716-02-06 Arequipa 8.8 1678-06-18Lima8.4 Ms31687-10-20 Ica 8.7 Mw X 5,000 Major tsunami 1655-11-13Lima8.8 Ms1650-05-12 Cuzco 7.7 Mw 460 1650-03-31 Arica 7.0 Ms 5,000 1650-03-31Cuzco8.1 X1630-11-27Lima8.1 VIIModerate damage1619-02-14 La Libertad 8.6 Ms 350 1615-09-16Arica8.8 Small tsunami1609-10-20 Lima 8.6 VIII 1604-11-24 Arica 8.5 Mw 1,200 1600-02-28Arequipa8.1 X1600-02-19Arequipa7.9 XI1,5001590Arequipa7.7 MsVII1586-07-09 Lima 8.6 Mw 22 1584-03-17Lima8.4 MsVII1582-08-15Arequipa7.8 VII1582-01-22Arequipa8.2 MsX1555-11-15Lima8.4 VIIMajor tsunami1513-01-01 Arequipa 8.7 VIII 1471Arequipa8.0 The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described are also applicable to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

See also Geography of Peru

Sources

External links Historic Worldwide Earthquakes Historic Peru Earthquakes