The 1942 Peru earthquake occurred on August 24 at 17:50 local time and was located near the border of the departments of Ica and Arequipa, Peru.

[2][3][4] This is a megathrust earthquake which ruptured part of the boundary between the Nazca plate and the South American plate.

[5][6] In this area, the Nazca plate is subducting beneath the South America Plate with a convergence vector of about 7.6 cm/yr.

Building damage was noteworthy in the epicentral area.

In Callao, the amplitude of the oscillations of the tsunami was 1.6 m.[9] In Lomas, the sea receded more than 200 m, and then it flooded the settlement with injuries reported.