5.5-magnitude earthquake hits Peru’s Andes region and kills at least 5 people | Peru
At least five people died in a 5.5-magnitude earthquake that shook Peru’s Andes region, officials said Sunday. More than 20 people were injured and 300 people were displaced.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 9:24 p.m. Saturday and had its epicenter 2 km (1.24 miles) west-southwest of the city of Sicaya in Huancayo province. It was 10 km (6.21 mi) deep.
Peru’s National Civil Defense Institute said in a statement that the total number of casualties is still unknown. Numerous buildings collapsed or suffered structural damage, including the local church and monastery.
Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defense department, told reporters that the use of rustic adobe materials in construction in the Andean region “contributes to greater impact and damage.”
Earthquakes occur frequently in Peru, which is located in the Pacific’s ‘Ring of Fire’.
Images published by local media showed relatives of the victims grieving in the agricultural district of Chongo Bajo, one of the worst-hit areas, where residents gathered under blankets in front of badly damaged houses. Animals were also seen under the rubble.
“My house is destroyed,” Hermenegilda Guamalato told a local radio station as she and her three children searched for a place to stay in the neighboring state of Huayucachi.
In 2007, approximately 600 people lost their lives in the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the Pisco province of the Ica region.
