Earthquakes Strike Peru, Killing Six and Injuring 21

Earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.1 and 3.7 struck the Peruvian province of Chupaca in the Junín region on Saturday evening, approximately 300 km east of the capital, Lima, according to a post by the local National Seismological Center on the social media platform X.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center had previously reported that the first earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6.

At least six people were killed and 21 were injured, said Luis Vásquez, head of Peru's National Civil Defense Institute. Speaking to the local radio station Exitosa, he said that according to preliminary reports, approximately 48 homes were destroyed and another 18 were damaged, affecting about 300 people.

Homes in the affected communities in Chupaca are mostly rudimentary structures built of unfired bricks.

(Reuters, sak)