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A three-wheeled motorcycle is stuck amid the rubble of houses that collapsed after an earthquake. Photo: Jhefry Sedano/AP/dpa
Keystone
At least five people have died following the powerful earthquake in central Peru. In addition, at least 21 people were injured, according to the Peruvian radio station RPP, citing the head of the civil defense agency. The Junín region in the central highlands of the Andean country has been particularly hard hit.
Peru's Geophysical Institute (IGP) reported the earthquake's magnitude as 5.1, while the U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude of 5.5. According to the IGP, the quake occurred at approximately 9:24 p.m. local time (4:24 a.m. CEST) at a depth of 24 kilometers south of the town of Chupaca in the province of the same name.
According to the regional government, approximately 49 homes were destroyed in the village of Pumpunya, leaving about 200 people homeless. The Ministry of Health set up a mobile medical aid station and deployed a field hospital to the disaster area. According to the Geophysical Institute, twelve aftershocks have been recorded so far.
Earthquakes occur frequently in this Andean country because several tectonic plates converge in the region. Peru, along with its neighbors Chile and Ecuador, lies along the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, the most seismically active zone on Earth.
19.07.2026, 19:01
