Six Killed, Dozens Injured in Historic Peruvian Andes Earthquake

Six individuals lost their lives and at least twenty others sustained injuries when a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck Peru’s central highlands on Saturday night, authorities confirmed on Sunday.

The tremor’s epicenter was located in the Junín region, near the rural district of Chongos Bajos, at 9:24 p.m. Saturday, causing damage or total collapse to dozens of homes and prompting roughly 300 residents to seek shelter in a local sports stadium due to persistent aftershocks, according to Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defense.

The quake also inflicted damage on the town’s 16th‑century church and chapel, as reported by the local broadcaster RPP.

Officials noted that the earthquake was relatively shallow, with a depth of approximately 6.2 miles, as measured by the United States Geological Survey, which recorded a magnitude of 5.5 (the Peru National Geophysical Institute reported a magnitude of 5.1 and a depth of about 15 miles).

This event represents the most significant seismic occurrence in Peru’s central highlands since 1969, when tremors of 5.9 and 6.0 magnitude impacted the region, said Hernando Tavera, head of Peru’s Geophysical Institute, during an interview with América Televisión.

In 2023, Peru has recorded roughly 450 seismic events, a figure consistent with the country’s typical earthquake activity, Tavera added.

Saturday’s quake resulted in power outages in towns near the epicenter, and several villages remained without electricity on Sunday, reported Luis Vásquez, head of the National Institute of Civil Defense, on the Exitosa Noticias television program.

Tavera emphasized that traditional adobe and straw homes, common throughout the Andes, are especially vulnerable to structural collapse during such seismic events.

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