Peru is a country located in the western region of South America, sharing borders with Ecuador and Chile. It is located close to the circum-Pacific
seismic belt, which is responsible more than two thirds of the world's more devastating
earthquakes. Many times in the history of
Peru, devastating
earthquakes have caused major damage and disruption in
Peru, destroying buildings and killing
people.
Peru has recovered from most of the shock.
The first
earthquake about which written records exist dates back to the year 1582. There is a descriptive account of a large tremor which rocked Peru and killed near about 30 people.
The most devastating
Peru earthquake happened in the year 1970. Accompanied by a gigantic El
Nino or tidal wave, the
earthquake did extensive damage to most of
Peru, killing a massive number of people and damaging households, industries and the economy at large.
Peru took time recovering from this calamity, as the overall economy and infrastructure took serious blows from the damage.
Another
Peru earthquake in 1946 was almost equally devastating, resulting in about 1,400 death and massive damage to property. Strangely, the Inca architecture was not affected by the
earthquakes, which speaks volumes about their architectural prowess. Another strong
earthquake in 1966 rendered around 20,000 people homeless.
Since then,
Peru has been plagued by
earthquakes frequently. Since the disaster, it has been better equipping itself to handle
earthquakes. Earthquakes also cause other natural disasters such as volcanic activity, tidal waves and other destructive
seismic phenomena.
