LIMA, Peru — More than 100 people were injured Monday after a strong earthquake in southern Peru, Peruvian civil defense authorities said.
Most of the injured however had only slight wounds.
“There is only one case, a broken pelvis, which we regard as more serious. All the others have been blows, cuts, bruises, as people moved in desperation to leave their homes (or) fell down the stairs,” said Cesar Chonate, head of Civil Defense in Ica.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake happened shortly after midnight and reached magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale.
It sprung from a depth of almost 25 miles and had its epicenter about 9 miles southeast of the city of Ica. Ica lies about 160 miles south of the capital, Lima.
Some nine hours later, there was an aftershock that reached 4.1 on the Richter scale and had its epicenter 14 miles southeast of Ica.
The injured were taken to local hospitals, and most of them were soon discharged.
The evaluation of damage was ongoing. Scores of homes were believed to have been left unfit to live in, and power was out in some areas.
“We were all asleep,” said Luisa Consiglieri, whose home in Ica lost its roof in the quake.
“We could not go down the stairs. Everything was appalling. Bricks were falling down, and we waited for the quake to stop in order to go down,” she said.
Some people were also injured in Pisco, another city in the Ica province, which is yet to be fully rebuilt after a 7.9-magnitude quake that claimed close to 600 lives there on Aug. 15, 2007.
Monday’s quake was felt, less intensely, in other Peruvian cities including Lima.
