Peru issues tsunami alert along southern coast after 7.8 quake strikes Chile

Peru issued a tsunami alert along its southern coast after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile, the Peruvian Navy said via Twitter on Wednesday.

The US Geological Survey upgraded the earthquake - the strongest of several aftershocks since a massive quake rocked the region on Tuesday - to 7.8 after initially reporting it had a magnitude of 7.4.

There were no initial reports of damages in Peru.