Eight killed in shallow quake in Peru

The moderate quake struck on Saturday night at a depth of just eight kilometres

Rescuers work to clear debris after several homes collapsed
Rescuers work to clear debris after several homes collapsed

A shallow, 4.9-magnitude earthquake killed at least eight people whose homes collapsed in a remote Andean village near Cuzco, a Peruvian civil defense official said yesterday.

The moderate quake struck on Saturday night at a depth of just eight kilometres and affected the village of Misca, as well as the nearby communities in the province of Paruro, in Cuzco region.

Peruvian Civil Defense released a statement saying that 45 adobe-and-stone houses collapsed and 70 more homes were cracked and left uninhabitable by the earthquake.

Peru’s government declared a 90-day state of emergency in the area. President Ollanta Humala said the state of emergency would help rebuild Misca, a village of 160 Quechua inhabitants located 600km southeast of Lima, which was at the epicenter of the quake.