At least six people were ​killed and 21 injured after two earthquakes struck ‌a mountainous region of Peru, the country's civil defense chief said on Sunday.

The quakes, measuring magnitudes 5.1 and 3.7, ​hit on Saturday night in Chupaca province in ​the Junín region, about 300 km (186 miles) east ⁠of Lima, according to Peru's National Seismological Center ​post on X.

The first quake struck at a depth ​of 24 km (15 miles) and the second at 18 km, the center said.

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre earlier reported that the first ​earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6.

Luis Vásquez, head ​of Peru's National Civil Defense Institute, told local radio station Exitosa ‌that ⁠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.

Vásquez said emergency crews and firefighters arrived in ​the affected areas early on Sunday to ​clear ⁠debris amid concerns that additional victims could be trapped.

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