At least six dead and 21 injured after two earthquakes in Peru
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People in Chupuro, Peru, on July 19 praying next to the bodies of four victims of earthquakes that struck the centre of the country a day ago.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LIMA – At least six people were killed and 21 injured after two earthquakes struck a mountainous region of Peru, the country’s civil defence chief said on July 19.
The quakes, measuring magnitudes 5.1 and 3.7, hit on the night of July 18 in Chupaca province in the Junin region, about 300km east of Lima, according to Peru’s National Seismological Center post on X.
The first quake struck at a depth of 24km and the second at 18km, it said.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre earlier reported that the first earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6.
Luis Vasquez, head of Peru’s National Civil Defense Institute, told local radio station Exitosa that preliminary reports showed about 48 homes had been destroyed and another 18 damaged, affecting around 300 people who are being provided with tents.
Residents gathering at the main square after the earthquake in central Peru. The government said the quake victims were being provided with tents.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Homes in the affected communities in Chupaca are generally rudimentary structures built from adobe blocks.
Vasquez said emergency crews and firefighters arrived in the affected areas early on July 19 to clear debris amid concerns that more victims could be trapped.
Peru lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone that accounts for roughly 85 per cent of the world’s seismic activity. REUTERS
