Earthquake Rattles Peruvian Coast*

The Associated Press
October 27, 2006; 11:27 PM

LIMA, Peru -- A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5
rattled Peru's southern coast Thursday, sending residents of one city
scurrying into the streets but apparently causing no damage or injuries.

The quake struck at 6:54 p.m. inn the Pacific Ocean, 94 miles southeast
of Lima, almost the same location where a powerful magnitude-6.7 quake
hit six days earlier, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

Apartment buildings and commercial towers shook in Lima for several
seconds, but no damage was reported.

The earthquake caused the most alarm in Ica, a coastal city 165 miles to
the southeast, where local radio reports said panicked residents rushed
from their homes into streets and parks.

Peruvians have been on edge during the last week because of several
aftershocks from the Oct. 20 quake, including a 4.2-magnitude temblor
that made Lima shudder late Wednesday.

"We have registered more than 280 earthquakes, a process that concerns
us, but which we also know is expected after the strong quake we felt
last Friday," Hernando Tavera, director of the Geophysics Institute of
Peru, told The Associated Press.