Peru earthquake kills five, injures over 20 in Andes region

Responders search through collapsed houses on the outskirts of Huancayo, in Junin department, about 300 km east of Lima, on July 19, following a 5.1 magnitude quake. PIC/AFP

A 5.5 magnitude earthquake shook the Andes region of Peru, killing at least five people, authorities said Sunday. More than 20 people were injured and 300 have been displaced.

The US Geological Survey reported the quake struck on Saturday at 9:24 pm, with its epicentre located 2 km west-southwest of the city of Sicaya in Huancayo province. It was 10 km deep.

Peru's National Civil Defence Institute said in a statement the total number of missing is still unknown. Several buildings collapsed or suffered structural damage, including the local church and convent.

Luis Vasquez, head of the local civil defense office, told journalists that the use of rustic adobe materials in construction in that Andean area "has contributed to the greater impact and damage".

Earthquakes are frequent in Peru, which is located in the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire".

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 as she sought a place to stay with her three children in the neighbouring province of Huayucachi.

In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the province of Pisco in the Ica region, killing nearly 600 people.

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