At least six people were killed and 21 injured after two earthquakes struck the mountainous Chupaca province in Peru's Junín region on Saturday night. The quakes, measuring magnitudes 5.1 and 3.7, hit about 300 km (186 miles) east of Lima, according to Peru's National Seismological Center. The first quake struck at a depth of 24 km (15 miles), while the second occurred at 18 km. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre reported the first earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6.
Emergency crews and firefighters arrived in the affected areas early Sunday to clear debris and search for additional victims. Peru's National Civil Defense Institute reported that about 48 homes were destroyed and another 18 damaged, affecting around 300 people who are being provided with tents. The homes in the affected communities are generally rudimentary structures built from adobe blocks.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported the quake struck at 9:24 p.m. local time, with its epicenter located 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) west-southwest of the city of Sicaya in Huancayo province. The incident took place at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.21 miles). 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 a national heritage site.
Images broadcast by local media captured the anguish of victims’ relatives in one of the hardest-hit areas, the agricultural region of Chongos Bajo, where residents huddled under blankets outside severely damaged homes. Animals were also seen under the rubble. Resident Hermenegilda Guamalato told a local radio station, "My home has been destroyed," as she sought a place to stay with her three children in the neighboring province of Huayucachi.
Peru lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone that accounts for roughly 85% of the world's seismic activity. In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the province of Pisco in the Ica region, killing nearly 600 people.