Magnitude 6.2 quake rattles southern Peru
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AREQUIPA, Peru (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook southern Peru early on Tuesday, killing at least one person in the Andean country's second-largest city, Arequipa, and damaging scores of homes.
The epicenter of the quake was located 35 miles north-northwest of Arequipa, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was recorded at a depth of 45 miles.
Police in Arequipa said a 93-year-old man died in a hospital, where he was taken after the quake caused an adobe wall in his house to crash on him. Witnesses said residents refused to go back into their homes after the quake, fearing structures might collapse in aftershocks.
In Moquegua, a province near Arequipa, at least five people were killed and another 34 injured when their bus tumbled into a ravine just minutes after the quake. Among the dead were a Chilean and a French tourist, local authorities said.
The regional police chief said it was not clear whether the crash was set off by a mechanical failure or by a road that buckled during the quake.
Dirt tumbled onto sections of the coastal highway, and the temblor was felt as far away as Peru's southernmost province of Tacna and in mineral-rich northern Chile. No injuries or damages were reported in Chile.
Carlos Nacarino, district chief of Peru's civil defense agency, said the epicenter was in an unpopulated area. Still, there were reports of isolated power outages.
Peru's third-largest copper mine, the Cerro Verde copper pit of Freeport-McMoRan, which is near the city of Arequipa, was unaffected by the quake, the company said.
Southern Copper has a mine and smelter in the neighboring Moquegua province, but also said its operations were fine.
"Everything has continued operating," Mauricio Pero, Southern's head of operations in Peru, told Reuters.
Arequipa lies about 445 miles southeast of Lima, the capital. The historic center of the city was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.
(Reporting by Miguel Zegarra in Arequipa, Maria Luisa Palomino in Lima, Rodrigo Martinez in Santiago and Anna Stablum in London; Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Walter Bagley and Jackie Frank)
