There are small-scale artisanal gold mines operating in the town of Yauca and nearby towns near the coast, but there is no information so far about the impact.
 "Magnitude 7.0 earthquake strikes Peru's Arequipa region, no deaths reported")
Ecuador and Peru are part of the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast area that encircles the Pacific Ocean and where continental plates frequently collide. (Representative image, photo credit: Shutterstock) Reuters
A powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near the coast of Peru's southern Arequipa region on Friday, local authorities said, but no deaths were reported.
A total of eight people were injured. David Aponte, director of disaster risk management and defense at the Ministry of Health, told local radio station RPP that three people suffered minor injuries. The Ministry later reported that five of the injured were being treated at a nearby hospital.
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Following the quake, Arequipa experienced four aftershocks ranging from magnitude 4 to 4.6, causing landslides on local roads.
The government said on social media that it was monitoring the situation to assess the damage and “decide what action to take.”
The US National Tsunami Warning Centre said the quake could result in a tsunami, adding that waves 1 to 3 metres (9.84 feet) above tide levels were recorded in parts of the Peruvian coast.
But Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen said a tsunami warning for the Arequipa coast had been discarded.
Carlos Zanabria, an adviser to the Arequipa provincial government, told local radio station RPP that property damage had been reported in some neighborhoods and residents had fled their homes in fear, but he had heard no reports of deaths or injuries.
Flavio Aranguren, from the Yauca community in Arequipa's Caraveri department, told the RPP that several walls of houses in his community had collapsed, but added that no deaths had been reported.
There are small, artisanal gold mines operating in the town of Yauca and other nearby coastal towns, but so far there is no information available about the impact.
Ricardo Guillén, head of the National Emergency Operations Center, said power and telephone lines were down in areas near the quake's epicenter.
Ecuador and Peru are part of the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast area that encircles the Pacific Ocean and where collisions of continental plates occur frequently.
