Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Dozens Injured in Powerful Peru Earthquake


Sat 31 Jul 2021 | 01:28 PM
Omnia Ahmed

At least 40 people were injured on Friday as a powerful earthquake rattled northern Peru.

Local health authorities said three people, including a pregnant woman, were seriously injured by collapsing walls. The hospital in the town of Sullana reported that about 10 others had broken bones.

Injured WomanThe country's Seismological Centre stated that the magnitude 6.1 quake was centred 12 kilometres west of Sullana in the Piura region at a depth of 36 kilometres.

Moreover, the civil defence agency said 187 homes were damaged and six were made uninhabitable. A report by broadcaster RPP indicated that the quake damaged the facade of the cathedral in the provincial capital Piura.

Landslides were reported in the district of Colan on the Pacific coast. Consequently, people fled buildings and sought safety outdoors.

On his part, President Pedro Castillo left a military parade in Lima marking the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and traveled to Piura, according to his office's statement.

Peru's Pacific coast is repeatedly hit by severe earthquakes and lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area marked by seismic upheaval with some 128 active volcanoes.