Peru earthquake kills at least 5, displaces 300 residents in Andes region

A powerful earthquake ripped through Peru’s Andes region overnight, killing at least five people and leaving hundreds displaced as homes and a church collapsed, with authorities warning Sunday that an unknown number of people remain missing.

The magnitude 5.5 quake struck shortly after 9:20 p.m. Saturday near the city of Sicaya in central Peru, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake injured more than 20 people and forced at least 300 residents from their homes, Peru’s National Civil Defense Institute said.

Officials were still trying to account for missing residents Sunday after several buildings collapsed or were left unsafe, including a local church and convent.

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Authorities said the region’s widespread use of traditional adobe construction likely made the damage worse. Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defense office, said the rustic building materials “contributed to the greater impact and damage.”

Images from the hard-hit farming community of Chongo Bajo showed families wrapped in blankets outside damaged homes as neighbors picked through the rubble. Animals could also be seen trapped beneath collapsed buildings.

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“My home has been destroyed,” resident Hermenegilda Guamalato told local radio while looking for shelter with her three children in the neighboring province of Huayucachi.

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Peru sits along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” one of the world’s most active earthquake zones. In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the coastal province of Pisco, killing nearly 600 people.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.