Peru earthquake kills at least five in the Andes region

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake shook Peru’s Andes region, killing at least five people and injuring more than 20 in the country’s central highlands. Local authorities said 300 people were displaced as the tremor rattled a region where steep terrain and scattered settlements can turn a moderate quake into a deadly emergency.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 9:24 p.m. local time Saturday, with its epicenter 2 kilometers west-southwest of Sicaya in Huancayo province and a depth of 10 kilometers. That placement matters in Peru’s central Andes, where narrow roads, unstable slopes and long distances between villages can slow ambulances, rescue crews and damage assessments.

Peru sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the world’s most active seismic zones, and its mountain communities live with the constant threat of shaking. But that reality does not erase the risks posed by lightly built homes, aging infrastructure and landslides that can cut off emergency access when roads buckle, collapse or become too dangerous to cross.

Officials were also left to assess whether schools, clinics and transport routes had been damaged, while checking if older buildings met seismic standards. In remote highland communities, families can spend nights outside after aftershocks, and even a quake that does not rate among the strongest can still leave homes destroyed and livelihoods disrupted.

The toll in the Andes has repeatedly shown how much damage a mid-range quake can do. A 5.3 magnitude shallow quake in southern Peru in 2016 killed at least four people, including a U.S. tourist, and injured dozens. A 5.1 magnitude quake in Cusco in 2014 killed at least eight people and left 75 homeless. In March 2023, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Ecuador and northern Peru killed at least 14 and damaged homes, schools and medical centers. Sunday's quake again exposed how vulnerable remote highland communities remain when the ground moves.