Field Survey of the June 23, 2001 Earthquake and Tsunami in Southern Peru

A great earthquake occurred near the coast of southern Peru, about 110 miles (175 km) west of Arequipa, or about 370 miles (595 km) southeast of Lima at 20:33 UTC (3:33 PM local). A revised moment magnitude of 8.4 (Harvard) was computed for this earthquake, making this the largest earthquake in the past 25 years (Dengler 2001a). The earthquake was also associated with a large tsunami. Initial reports described 1-km inland inundation, 5 m of runup and extensive damage and flooding. It was determined that the tsunami affected 300 m of coastline with the highest runup concentrated along a 20 km stretch of coast near Camana. The event also created a transpacific tsunami that was recorded at tidal stations across the Pacific Basin with 10 to 40 cm waves amplitudes recorded in California, 70 cm in Hawaii and up to 50 cm in Japan. In all, 22 people were killed, 62 were reported as missing, and 3000 structures were damaged or destroyed.