Raleigh N&O

2:35PM EDT

Peru hit by second earthquake

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LIMA, Peru (AP) - Less than two weeks after an 8.1-magnitude temblor devastated southern Peru, a less powerful earthquake struck the region Thursday and caused panicked residents to rush into the streets, authorities said.

Hundreds of already severely damaged homes collapsed, local officials said, but no injuries were immediately reported.

The preliminary 5.1-magnitude quake hit at 8:53 a.m. local time, near the town of Caraveli, 350 miles southeast of the capital, Lima, according to Peru's Geophysical Institute.

"Thank God, there are no personal injuries," Caraveli Mayor Manuel Navarro told radio station CPN. "We are living through the psychosis of the last earthquake."

The quake knocked down some 325 structures that had been on the verge of collapse from the earlier temblor, he said. Building damage was also reported in the coastal city of Tacna, 600 miles southeast of Lima.

The quake was felt for at least 20 seconds in the southern cities of Arequipa, Moquegua and in the town of Camana, the areas hardest hit by the June 23 earthquake, which killed at least 75 people.

Radio reports from the areas reported schoolchildren rushing from morning classes to open ground in Nazca, near Peru's southern border with Chile, and people weeping in the streets of Camana, 455 miles southeast of Lima.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2001