Peru was hit by a powerful earthquake on August 20, a little more than a week after a local seismologist warned that the country’s central region could be at risk of a major seismic event. The magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Ayacucho, south of the capital Lima, at around 1 pm local time.
The quake came less than two weeks after seismologist César Jiménez Tintaya told Peruvian radio station RPP that seismic energy had been accumulating beneath central Peru since 1746, when the region experienced its last megathrust earthquake.
The warning came amid heightened seismic activity across South America. On June 24, Venezuela was struck by magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, followed 47 days later by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in western Colombia on August 10.
Jiménez Tintaya also warned in his August 11 interview that Bolivia could potentially experience a significant earthquake, adding to concerns about the wider region. Experts stress, however, that earthquakes cannot currently be predicted with precision.
The prospect of an earthquake is a terrifying one for many of us, and it seems like there have been a lot of earthquakes in recent years. But is the frequency increasing? Or are we now just a lot more aware of what's taking place in the wider world, thanks to increased communications and reporting? And if they have become more frequent, is climate change a contributing factor?
Click on the following gallery for these answers and more.