Powerful and deadly earthquake rattles Peru

Toll expected to rise after magnitude-7.1 jolt

Emergency crews in Peru were digging for survivors and rushing tents and supplies to a string of battered coastal towns after a powerful earthquake rocked the region Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring scores more.

The magnitude-7.1 quake crumbled roads and destroyed more than 100 homes, leaving hundreds homeless, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said after arriving at the scene about 350 miles southeast of Lima.

The earthquake came four days before Pope Francis arrives in Peru for a four-day visit.

Homes collapsed and power was lost in the cities of Acarí, Jaquí, Tanaca Yauza, Salamanca and Condesuyos and others, Acarí Mayor Jorge Alfonso De La Torre Velarde said. Buildings shook as far away as Lima.

Earthquakes are common along Peru’s coast. A magnitude-8.0 quake struck a coastal area farther north in August 2007, killing more than 500 people and injuring hundreds.

PERUVIAN PRESIDENCY VIA EPA-EFE The earthquake crumbled roads and destroyed homes in Arequipa, Peru. Hundreds of people were left homeless.