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Thu, 14:19 24 Apr 2008 GMT17

 
Peru earthquake 2007

Last reviewed: 13-09-2007

EARTHQUAKE IN THE ANDES


A devastating earthquake shook the area south of Peru's capital Lima on the evening of August 15, 2007, killing 520 and destroying 58,000 homes.

  • 7.9 on Richter scale at epicentre
  • Tens of thousands left homeless
  • 12.5 percent of Peruvians live on less than a dollar a day.

    The coastal province of Ica south of Lima was the hardest hit region, including the cities of Chincha, Ica and Pisco.

    The Andes mountain range, which runs north-to-south along Peru's Pacific coast, has many active fault lines.

    In 1970, an earthquake killed around 50,000 Peruvians in catastrophic avalanches of ice and mud that buried the city of Yungay.

    KEY FACTS


    Population of Peru 27.8 million U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Population Division, 2006
    Life expectancy 70.2 years Human Development Report 2006
    Adult literacy in 2004 87.7 percent Human Development Report 2006
    Population living on less that $1 a day in 2004 12.5 percent Human Development Report 2006
    Per capita GNI in 2005, according to the Atlas method $2,650 World Bank Data Profile Tables 2007

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    Three-year-old Melany plays at what is left of a church in Pisco April 17, 2008 eight months after a 7.9 earthquake hit southern Peru killing about 500 people. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo (PERU) ...


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