Magnitude of 6.1 earthquake leaves one dead, 36 wounded in Peru

LIMA (AFP): A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Peru on Sunday, leaving one person dead and 36 injured as the tremor triggered landslides, officials said.

The quake hit shortly before noon and was centered around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Callao, a port city next to the capital Lima, the National Seismological Center said.

The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.6.

Peru said the tremor had not generated a tsunami warning. A man died in Lima when a wall fell on the car he was driving, the National Police said. In addition, the Emergency Operations Center reported 36 injuries in Lima.

President Dina Boluarte called for “calm” from citizens, noting that there was no tsunami warning for the South American country’s Pacific coastline.

The TV channel Latina showed footage of landslides in several areas of the capital city. The quake also prompted a suspension of a major football game being played in Lima.

The city’s subway service was also halted. Peru is home to 34 million people and lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a stretch of intense seismic and volcanic activity around the Pacific basin.

Peru averages at least 100 detectable earthquakes every year. The last big one, in 2021 in the Amazon region, had a magnitude of 7.5, left 12 people injured and destroyed more than 70 homes.

A devastating quake in 1970 in the northern Ancash region of Peru killed around 67,000 people.