Five dead, thousands homeless in Peru quake

A powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake that shook Peru's northern jungle over the weekend killed five people and made several thousand homeless.

The worst damage from the quake, which hit on Sunday evening, occurred in the hilltop town of Lamas in the San Martin region.

"In Lamas, we've got 102 destroyed homes and another 498 houses that are uninhabitable, which leaves 3,000 people homeless right now," the Lamas mayor said.

President Alejandro Toledo has arrived in Lamas to survey the damage, and the central government sent doctors, blankets, tents, food and medicine to the area.

Peru's deadliest quake, in 1970, registered a magnitude of 7.9 and killed 70,000.