DOUBLE DISASTER

At Least Six Killed as Back-to-Back Earthquakes Strike Peru

Hundreds of residents remain displaced as recovery efforts continue.

At least six people are dead, 21 are reported missing, and hundreds have been displaced after two earthquakes struck Peru on Saturday. The quakes, measuring 5.1 and 3.7 in magnitude, hit the mountainous Junín region in Chupaca province. Peru’s National Seismological Center said the earthquakes struck at depths of 15 miles and 11 miles, respectively, according to a post on X cited by Reuters. The news agency reported that 28 homes were destroyed and a further 18 damaged, leaving around 300 people displaced. Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defense office, told reporters that the widespread use of rustic adobe building materials in the area “has contributed to the greater impact and damage.” He added that emergency crews and firefighters arrived on Sunday to clear debris and assist people believed to remain trapped beneath the ruins. “My home has been destroyed,” Hermenegilda Guamalato, a mother of three, told a local radio station, according to The Guardian. Residents whose homes were destroyed are receiving tents as emergency shelter. The earthquakes in Peru come after twin quakes struck Venezuela last month, with the death toll there surpassing 5,000 as of Friday, according to the Associated Press.