The quake hit at 7.02am local time, at a depth of 218km, according to the USGS.

Peru’s National Seismological Center said the quake had a magnitude of 6.9 and a depth of 240km.

Its epicentre was 20km northeast of the town of Azangaro, close to Lake Titicaca on the border with Bolivia.

Peruvian authorities said the quake caused a shockwave felt in southwestern regions bordering Chile.

“For the moment, given the level of intensity at the surface, it should not generate any more damage than fear,” Hernando Tavera, the director of Peru’s Geophysics Institute, told RPP radio station.

“When the quake is deeper there is less shaking of the ground.”

Peru, which lies on the Ring of Fire, is hit every year by at least 400 perceptible quakes.

The Ring of Fire is an area of high volcanic and seismic activity around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean.