Earthquake in Peru kills at least nine

LIMA, Peru: A moderate 5.2 magnitude earthquake in Peru killed at least nine people including a US tourist and left 40 injured, crushing villagers under rubble and blocking roads, officials said Monday.

The quake knocked down about 50 homes and cut off roads and power in the southern Arequipa region.

The governor of Arequipa, Yamila Osorio, said on the radio that three people were reported killed in Achoma and six in another village, Yanque.

The civil defense service identified one of the casualties as Vaun Ken Edan, a 66-year-old American who died in a hotel in Yanque that was badly damaged.

Earthquakes are fairly common in Peru but this one hit at a shallow depth of eight kilometers (five miles) Sunday night so damage could be heavy near the epicenter.

The epicenter was 10 kilometers (six miles) from the city of Chivay, capital of Caylloma province, according to the Geophysical Institute of Peru.

Several aftershocks hit Monday morning.

The quake caused damage throughout an area of Arequipa called the Colca Valley, and several villages have been cut off.

Osorio, the governor of Arequipa, called for food and clothing to be airlifted to people left homeless by the quake.

More than 80 homes have been left uninhabitable, but crews cannot reach the epicenter, Osorio said.

Among the worst-hit spots was Yanque, a rural village of mud huts with some 1,200 inhabitants.  About 60 percent of the buildings in the village were destroyed, said local mayor Anastasia Suyco. She said land access to the area was cut off.

The last serious quake in Peru -- with a 7.9 magnitude strength -- struck on August 15, 2007. Its epicenter was on the central coast, just west of the major city of Pisco. It killed 595 people.