Earthquakes in Ica: Peru's Nazca Subduction Coast

Yes, Ica is a very high earthquake-risk zone. Located on Peru's southern coast, the region is among the country's most exposed to large-magnitude earthquakes. Peru's seismic design code (Norma E.030) places this entire coastal strip in Zone 4, the country's highest seismic-hazard category.

The cause is the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate, which sinks off the Peruvian coast at a rate of several centimetres a year. This process, the same one that built the Andes, accumulates enormous stress that is released in large coastal earthquakes. The city of Ica also sits on soft valley soil deposits, which amplify seismic waves and increase damage compared with rockier ground.

The most devastating recent event was the Pisco earthquake of 15 August 2007, with a magnitude near 8.0 and its epicentre off the coast of the Ica region. It left around 600 dead, thousands injured and massive destruction in Pisco, Ica and Chincha, collapsing adobe homes and historic churches. The region had already suffered major earthquakes in past centuries, and specialists warn that Peru's central and southern coast retains a high potential for further large-magnitude earthquakes.