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Destroyed houses in San Juan de Lurigancho: Peru's President warns of aftershocks
Photo: Gian Masko / dpa
The earth shakes again and again in Peru.
Now tremors have shaken the capital Lima and its surroundings.
The earthquake on Friday (local time) had a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale.
At least nine people were injured and some houses were damaged, the authorities said.
According to the Geophysical Institute, the epicenter of Peru was 19 kilometers northeast of Lima at a depth of 116 kilometers.
Some people in the capital fled their homes in a panic.
A major highway connecting the capital with central Peru has been blocked by fallen rocks.
"Fortunately, we have no fatalities to complain about," said Rolando Capucho, coordinator of the national emergency call center, the television station N.
The quake was registered in the provinces of Cañete and Chincha south of Lima and in the port city of Chimbote almost 400 kilometers north of the capital.
President Pedro Castillo warned of aftershocks on Twitter.
In November, a quake with a magnitude of 7.5 shook the Amazon region in northern Peru.
Twelve people were injured and more than 2000 people lost their roof over their heads.
At least 400 noticeable earthquakes occur in Peru every year.
The country lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which stretches along the west coast of the American continent.
Several tectonic plates collide there and often trigger earthquakes.
A strong 7.9 earthquake shook the central coast of Peru on August 15, 2007;
more than 500 people died.
asc / AFP
