Earthquake damages 20 houses in Peru

A magnitude-5.1 earthquake shook Peru's northern Amazon region, damaging about 20 homes but causing no injuries, the country's National Defense Institute said Monday. Peru's Geophysics Institute said the quake struck late Sunday night near the town of Bagua, 730 kilometers (453 miles) north of the capital, Lima.

Civil defense authorities said the seismic movement cracked walls of adobe and mud brick homes and caused parts of thatched roofs to fall. People ran to open ground in panic. Two mild aftershocks followed.

A powerful 7.5-magnitude quake rocked the same region on Sept. 25, killing five people and injuring 76, and leaving 6,440 people homeless, the AP says.

T.E.