A shallow magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Peru on Thursday close to Lake Titicaca, damaging homes and downing some communication lines in a remote Andean province.
The tremor, recorded as a 6.3 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), struck at 5:40 p.m. local time (2240 GMT), some 48 miles (77 km) northwest of the town of Juliaca close to Lake Titicaca, which lies in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia.
Homes made of adobe in the province of Lampa completely collapsed in the quake, Mayor Nicolas Quispe said on local broadcaster RPP.
Residents in the city of Juliaca ran into the streets in fear, according to RPP.
Civil defence institute Indeci said the quake had damaged homes and communication lines but said there were no immediate reports of death.
Peru’s geophysical institute measured the quake as a 5.5.
According to the USGS, the quake struck just 2.2 miles (3.5 km) below the Earth’s surface, which would have amplified its effect.
There are no major mines in the vicinity.
(Reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington, Ursula Scollo in Lima and Caroline Stauffer in Buenos Aires; Editing by James Dalgleish and Sandra Maler)
