Magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits Peru’s Andes region, killing at least 6
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- A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Peru’s Andean city of Sicaya late Saturday, killing at least six people, injuring more than 20 and displacing about 300 residents.
- Homes, a church and a convent collapsed or were badly damaged, as families in the agricultural community of Chongo Bajo huddled outside under blankets surrounded by rubble.
LIMA, Peru — A magnitude 5.5 earthquake shook the Andes region of Peru, killing at least six people, injuring more than 30 and displacing 300, authorities said Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake struck at 9:24 p.m. Saturday local time, with its epicenter 1.24 miles west-southwest of the city of Sicaya, in Huancayo province. The quake took place at a depth of 6.21 miles.
Peru’s National Civil Defense Institute said in a statement that the number of people missing is still unknown. Several buildings collapsed or suffered structural damage, including the historic Santiago de León church and former convent in Chongos Bajo, which was built in 1565 and designated as national heritage site as an “architectural gem” of the era.
Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defense office, told journalists that the use of rustic adobe materials in construction in the area “has contributed to the greater impact and damage.”
Earthquakes are frequent in Peru, which is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” as is California.
Images broadcast by local media captured the anguish of victims’ relatives in one of the hardest-hit areas, the agricultural region of Chongo Bajo, where residents huddled under blankets outside severely damaged homes. Animals were also seen under the rubble.
“My home has been destroyed,” Hermenegilda Guamalato told a local radio station as she sought a place to stay with her three children in the neighboring province of Huayucachi.
In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the province of Pisco in the Ica region, leaving nearly 600 people dead.
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