The cathedral was restored after the 1868 quake

One of the towers of the 17th century cathedral was destroyed, although the San Agustin Church withstood the quake.

Founded on the site of an Inca town in 1540, Arequipa was almost totally destroyed by earthquakes in 1687 and 1868.

But much of the architecture was restored in its Spanish colonial style, and parts of the cathedral re-built.

Distinctive look

Arequipa is called "the white city" because most of the buildings are made with sillar, a white volcanic stone.

The city sits beneath the snow-capped volcano, El Misti (the gentleman), more than 2,000m above sea level in the Desert Mountains of the Andes.

Most of the buildings are low-rise, and according to Peru expert John Crabtree, that makes the city more able to withstand an earthquake than Lima, which has tall tower blocks.

Arequipa is the commercial centre of southern Peru, about 1,000km (630 miles) south of the capital, and home to about one million people.

The city's main product is alpaca wool, which is graded, sorted and shipped out through the port of Mollendo.

The city has a university and several other institutions of higher education.

During the centuries of Spanish rule, Arequipa boasted one of the largest convents in South America, the Convento de Santa Catalina, once home to almost 450 nuns.

It was a city within the city, and is now a major tourist attraction.

Many of the city's beautiful colonial houses, such as Casa Ricketts, have become art galleries or museums.