Powerful, deadly earthquake rocks Peru
A powerful earthquake off the coast of Peru rocked a string of towns Sunday, killing at least one person and wounding scores more as it toppled homes and crumbled roads.
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said he would visit the area later Sunday to view the damage and help provide aid to hundreds left homeless by the magnitude-7.1 earthquake, which struck at 4:18 a.m. local time.
The earthquake came four days before Pope Francis arrives in Peru for a four-day visit.
The epicenter was about 25 miles southwest of Acarí, the U. S. Geological Survey reported. Homes collapsed and power was lost in the cities of Acarí, Jaquí, Tanaca Yauza, Salamanca and Condesuyos and others, Acarí Mayor Jorge Alfonso De La Torre Velarde said.
Yamila Osorio, governor of the Arequipa region that includes the devastated areas, said a 55-year old man was crushed by a rock in the coastal town of Yauca, 350 miles southeast of Lima.
Jorge Chavez, chief of Peru’s Civil Defense Institute, told the Peruvian newspaper El Popular that a second person had died 20 miles north of Yauca in the town of Bella Union. Chavez later said the second death had not been confirmed.
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Chavez said at least 65 people were injured. His agency posted photos on Twitter of blankets, tents and other humanitarian aid being loaded on transport planes bound for the affected area.
“There are several homes affected, and it is possible that the count of victims and injured will rise,” Chavez told Reuters.
The U. S Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially warned of possible tsunami waves for areas of Peru’s southern coast. The center later issued a bulletin saying no such waves were detected and the threat had passed.
Mining is a major industry in the region, and a Health Ministry official initially announced that 17 people were missing in a mine. Authorities later said there had been no mining disruptions.
Earthquakes are common along Peru’s coast. A magnitude-8.0 quake struck a coastal area farther north in August 2007, killing more than 500 people and injuring hundreds more.
