STORY: A landslide in northern Peru has forced 172 residents to evacuate after their homes and crops were put at risk by ground movement, authorities said on Friday (April 17).

The land movement was recorded in the upper part of a hamlet in the province of El Dorado, leaving "the preschool and several homes uninhabitable" and posing "an ongoing risk to the entire population, since the landslide is still moving," the provincial government said on Thursday (April 16).

The local government said 172 people from 52 families had been evacuated and were being sheltered at a sports complex in the town of San José de Sisa.

Initial reports pointed to a fault line, but Hernando Tavera, head of the Geophysical Institute of Peru, ruled this out, telling local channel Canal N that heavy rains had saturated the soil, causing it to shift due to gravity.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: EL DORADO, SAN MARTIN, PERU (APRIL 17, 2026) (EL DORADO GOVERNMENT – Access all)

1. (MUTE) VARIOUS OF DRONE VIEWS OF LANDSLIDE AND HOUSES AT RISK

2. CRACKED LAND

3. HOUSE AFFECTED BY LANDSLIDE

4. LOCAL RESIDENT CARRYING BELONGINGS

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL RESIDENT, TOMAS (NO LAST NAME GIVEN), SAYING:

"I've lived here for 37 years, and we have to leave overnight, we just can't understand it. That's why I'm calling on the central government and the regional government—please support us. We are going through a difficult time. My whole town is worried. It's already been two days like this, without eating anything, sleeping out in the streets."

6. FALLEN TREES

7. CORDONED OFF HOUSE

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) DEPUTY MANAGER OF CIVIL DEFENSE, DIEGO GARCIA, SAYING:

"We have now clearly realized that this is a large-scale emergency. This indicates that there has been heavy rainfall here, and as a result there has been erosion and undermining, and then a second hazard: mass movement, as you can already see. You are all aware of it and are witnessing it."

9. OFFICIALS GIVING INSTRUCTIONS TO LOCAL RESIDENTS

10. MAYOR SPEAKING OVER MEGAPHONE

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MAYOR OF EL DORADO PROVINCE, FRANCISCO SATALAYA, SAYING:

"There are more than 100 people who need food, who are being left homeless, without a place to stay, including schoolchildren whose educational institutions have been affected, and I believe it is extremely urgent to receive support from the regional government and the national government."

12. PEOPLE EVACUATING

13. (MUTE) DRONE FOOTAGE OF EL DORADO PROVINCE