One dead, injuries reported after earthquake hits northwest Argentina

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck northwest Argentina on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, leaving at least one person dead and damaging homes.

"Homes collapsed, families have been left with nothing, schools have been destroyed. We have one fatality, who was crushed," Hector Romero, mayor of El Galpon, some 160 km from Salta's capital, told a local radio station.

"Currently there is one woman dead and injured people are being treated at the local hospital," said Ernesto Flores, undersecretary with Salta's civil defence authority, according to state-run news agency Telam.

The USGS, which originally measured the quake at 6.0, said the quake occurred 131 kilometres (81 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Salta.

(Reporting by Maximiliano Rizzi; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Jason Neely)