6 killed in Peru quakes

At least six people were killed and 21 injured after two earthquakes struck a mountainous region of Peru.

The quakes, measuring magnitudes 5.1 and 3.7, hit Chupaca province in the Junin region, about 300 kilometres east of Lima.

The first quake struck at a depth of 24 kilometres and the second at 18 kilometres.

The head of Peru's National Civil Defense said preliminary reports showed about 48 homes had been destroyed and another 18 damaged, affecting around 300 people who are being provided with tents.

Homes in the affected communities in Chupaca are generally rudimentary structures built from adobe blocks.

Peru lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone that accounts for roughly 85% of the world's seismic activity.