The central highland region of Peru experienced a significant earthquake on Saturday night, resulting in the deaths of six people and injuring at least 20 others. The authorities confirmed the impact on Sunday.

The earthquake struck the Junín region, close to the rural district of Chongos Bajos, precisely at 9:24 p.m. It caused damage to or destroyed numerous homes, forcing approximately 300 residents to seek refuge in a local sports stadium due to ongoing aftershocks, as reported by Peru’s National Institute of Civil Defense.

The temblor also inflicted damage to the town’s historical 16th-century church and chapel, according to the local broadcaster RPP.

The United States Geological Survey recorded the quake’s magnitude at 5.5 with a shallow depth of 6.2 miles. However, Peru’s National Geophysical Institute reported a magnitude of 5.1 and a depth of about 15 miles.

This earthquake was the largest to affect Peru’s central highlands since 1969, when two temblors of magnitudes 5.9 and 6 shook the region. Hernando Tavera, head of Peru’s Geophysical Institute, shared this information with América Televisión.

Throughout the year, Peru has detected 450 earthquakes, aligning with the country’s average seismic activity, according to Mr. Tavera.

In the aftermath, towns near the earthquake’s epicenter experienced power outages. On Sunday, several villages were still without electricity, as stated by Luis Vásquez, the head of the National Institute of Civil Defense, on the TV show Exitosa Noticias.

Mr. Tavera noted that traditional adobe and straw homes, common in the Andes region, are particularly susceptible to collapse during earthquakes.