6.7 magnitude quake shakes Peru's southern Andes

LIMA — A strong magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck southern Peru on Thursday, US seismologists said, with authorities reporting minor injuries to three people, according to a preliminary report.

The epicenter of the quake was located about 40 kilometers northwest of Upahuacho, and nearly 800 kilometers from the capital Lima. It struck at 1 pm local time (1800 GMT), at a depth of 99 kilometers, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Peru's earthquake follows two major quakes in the region since June: twin earthquakes in Venezuela on June 24 that killed more than 6,000 people and a powerful tremor in Colombia last week that left nearly 300 people dead.

In Peru, at least 22 homes, six schools and 12 medical centers have been impacted by the quake, the preliminary report found, as officials continued to make damage assessments.

The Geophysical Institute of Peru, or IGP, put the magnitude at 7.2 and said the quake occurred at a depth of 108 kilometers.

Emergency teams have been deployed to the Andean towns of Puquio and Coracora.

Images broadcast by Peruvian media showed rocks and earth tumbling down hills around Coracora in the Ayacucho region, the closest town to the epicenter, which has a population of about 10,000.

"The population has responded. They evacuated and took shelter," the town's mayor Yony Odon told state television in a telephone call, saying he was hopeful there was no major damage.

The earthquake "was felt with moderate to strong intensity in several departments", the National Institute of Civil Defense wrote on X.

A magnitude 4.2 aftershock was also felt at 4:30 pm local time, the IGP said.

The tremor was also felt in Cusco, Arequipa and even Lima, although with lesser intensity, AFP journalists said.

Earthquakes are frequent in Peru, which is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an area of frequent seismic activity. In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in a province of the Ica region left nearly 600 people dead.

AGENCIES - XINHUA