LIMA – A magnitude-5.3 earthquake left four people dead, 68 injured and 1,253 families homeless in a rural area of Caylloma province in southern Peru’s Arequipa region, to which the authorities have sent humanitarian aid in helicopters and by land.The fatalities were an 80-year-old woman, another age 70 and her granddaughter, a minor, as well as United States citizen Evan Baum Kent, 66, whose body was found in the Hotel Colca Eco Inn, which was destroyed by the temblor, according to the Yanque district governor.
The Indeci emergency management service reported that 605 homes were destroyed, along with three churches, a hotel, four schools, a bar, highways and irrigation canals.
The quake affected the districts of Ichupampa, Chivay, Achoma, Yanque, Coporaque, Maca, Magrigal, Tapay, Huambo and Lari, according to Indeci, and occurred at 9:58 p.m. Sunday, with its epicenter at 8 kilometers (5 miles) southwest of Chivay and the hypocenter at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).
Though at first the regional governor of Arequipa, Yamila Osorio, said that according to preliminary reports nine people could have died, it was later confirmed that no more than four people lost their lives.
The Defense Ministry reported that eight of the more seriously injured were flown to the city of Arequipa in helicopters of the armed forces and the National Police.
Kent, the only foreigner killed in the quake, was put on the first flight. His wife survived but was injured in the hotel where they were staying.
Indeci along with the Arequipa regional government, the Red Cross and the Ministry of the Woman transported to the scene of the disaster, by land and by air, humanitarian aid including food, blankets and mattresses for those affected
Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski announced that his government has ordered emergency aid sent to the earthquake area, which is being visited Tuesday by 1st Vice President and Transport and Communications Minister Martin Vizcarra and Defense Minister Mariano Gonzalez.
