5.5 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Peru's Andes, Killing at Least 6 and Displacing Hundreds

An earthquake struck Peru's Andes region Saturday night, killing at least six people and displacing 300 more, according to the Associated Press reporting carried by PBS and CBC News. More than 30 people were injured. Peru's National Civil Defense Institute says the total number of missing is still unknown as of Sunday.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 5.5, striking at 9:24 p.m. Saturday. The epicenter sat two kilometers west-southwest of Sicaya in Huancayo province, at a depth of 10 kilometers, roughly six miles down.

Fox News reported the death toll at five as of Sunday morning, citing the same USGS data and Peru's Civil Defense Institute. The AP-sourced reporting from PBS and CBC put the number at six. TMZ's account also listed five dead. The discrepancy likely reflects the timing of each report relative to Peru's ongoing casualty count, which officials warned Sunday was still being finalized.

A 16th-century church reduced to rubble

Among the structures destroyed was the "Santiago de León" church and former convent in Chongos Bajo, built in 1565 and designated a national heritage site as a 16th-century architectural landmark, according to PBS. The building's loss underscores how the quake hit not just modern housing but centuries-old infrastructure.

Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defense office, told reporters that the widespread use of adobe, a traditional mud-brick building material common throughout the Andes, "contributed to the greater impact and damage."

In the farming community of Chongos Bajo, one of the hardest-hit areas, residents spent the night wrapped in blankets outside their damaged or destroyed homes. Local broadcasts showed animals trapped under rubble alongside collapsed structures.

Hermenegilda Guamalato, a resident who lost her home, told a local radio station she was searching for shelter with her three children in the neighboring province of Huayucachi. "My home has been destroyed," she said.

Peru's long history with the Ring of Fire

Peru sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," one of the most seismically active zones on Earth. The country has a documented history of destructive quakes. In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the coastal province of Pisco in the Ica region, killing nearly 600 people.

How many people remain unaccounted for from Saturday's quake is still unclear. Vásquez and Peru's Civil Defense Institute both said Sunday that the missing count is still unknown, meaning the current death toll could rise as search crews continue working through collapsed buildings in Sicaya, Chongos Bajo, and the surrounding Huancayo province.