Peru hit by 6.8 earthquake

Peru was hit by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake Wednesday, but there were no damages or injuries, according to news reports. The nation suffered an 8.0 earthquake in 2007 that killed nearly 500 people, and four years later residents are still working to recover from that disaster.

In Wednesday's quake, the ground shook "like a hammock," one local woman told the Associated Press, but it occurred in a sparsely populated jungle area north of the city of Pucallpa and near the border with Brazil. Some shaking was reportedly felt in Lima, the nation's capital.

Earlier this month, Peru's president, Ollanta Humala, visited Pisco, Peru, which was devastated by the 2007 earthquake, to encourage the process of rebuilding.

Wednesday's earthquake, which occurred at 12:46 p.m. local time (10:46 a.m. PDT, 1:46 p.m. EDT), was very deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and deeper quakes are less likely to cause damage.

Earthquakes have been in the news lately in the U.S. with the 5.8 temblor in Virginia on Tuesday, which shook up New Yorkers unaccustomed to the ground shifting. There also was a 5.3 quake in Colorado, the strongest in that area in decades.

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-- Amy Hubbard

Photo: Peruvian President Ollanta Humala visits Pisco, Peru, on Aug. 12, to help direct rebuilding efforts. Credit: Karel Navarro / Los Angeles Times