A 5.5-magnitude earthquake shook Peru's Andes region on Saturday at 9:24 p.m., killing at least five people, injuring more than 20, and displacing 300, authorities reported. The US Geological Survey placed the epicenter 2 km (1.2 miles) west-southwest of Sicaya in Huancayo province, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). Peru's National Civil Defence Institute noted the number of missing remains unknown, as several buildings - including a local church and convent - collapsed or suffered structural damage.

Luis Vásquez, head of the local civil defence office, told journalists that the use of rustic adobe materials in construction in that Andean area "has contributed to the greater impact and damage." In other news, building with mud and straw doesn't hold up well against earthquakes. Peru sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," so quakes are frequent - this is not their first rodeo, nor their worst. In 2007, a 7.9-magnitude quake in the Ica region killed nearly 600 people.

Local media broadcast images of anguish in hard-hit agricultural region Chongo Bajo, where residents huddled under blankets outside severely damaged homes, and animals were seen under rubble. "My home has been destroyed," Hermenegilda Guamalato told a local radio station, seeking shelter with her three children in neighboring Huayucachi. The death toll may rise as rescue efforts continue, because when your house is made of adobe, a 5.5 quake is not a gentle nudge.