President Keiko Fujimori led the drill from Lima's Plaza de Armas, presenting a hypothetical assessment of nearly 11,000 deaths, more than 165,000 injuries and around 2.2 million displaced people .

"If this had been real, this would be the report I would have to give," Fujimori said, stressing that the figures were part of the simulation and calling for continued disaster preparedness.

INDECI official Catherine Palacios said the exercise also marked 19 years since the 2007 Pisco earthquake. Fire Brigade official Marcos Pajuelo said the drill was aimed at testing emergency preparedness amid concerns over the prolonged period without a major earthquake along Peru's central coast.

According to the Geophysical Institute of Peru, the area has not experienced a large-magnitude earthquake since 1746, while seismic energy continues to accumulate due to the convergence of the Nazca and South American tectonic plates.

Protesters marched from Plaza Dos de Mayo towards Congress, carrying banners and chanting slogans in defence of job security .

Unions argue that some measures proposed by the government could weaken labour rights and lead to more precarious working conditions.

"What is being attempted is a labour reform that cuts labour rights and creates precarious work," said Geronimo Lopez, Secretary-General of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru.

Among the main concerns raised by unions are the protection of CTS (Compensation for Time of Service), holidays, bonuses and job security.

Gilmer Meza, Secretary-General of the Unitary Union of Education Workers of Peru, said teachers joined the demonstration as a warning to the new government .

"We teachers who are here mobilised today also support workers from different organisations, demanding respect for workers' holidays, respect for bonuses," the secretary argued.

During her inaugural address, Fujimori announced an increase in the Minimum Living Wage to 1,300 soles. However, the CGTP has questioned the increase being tied to an agreement with the business sector.

The union says employers have previously postponed updates to the minimum wage.

"Today we have come out precisely to say, 'keep your word'; issue the Supreme Decree at once ordering the wage rise to 1,300," Lopez added.

Workers at the demonstration said they would oppose any reforms they believe would roll back their labour rights.

Demonstrators, escorted by police, carried banners reading "Keiko, you are going to fall" and "Peru no longer wants rats, Fujimori never again." Outside the Palace of Justice, protesters also symbolically washed Peruvian flags.

The march brought together relatives of people killed during anti-government protests in 2022 and 2023 under former president Dina Boluarte, activists, members of social organisations and defeated presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez, who continues to reject the election result.

Raul Samillan, representative of the National Organisation of Relatives of the Murdered and Victims of the 2022-2023 Massacres, said the demonstration was aimed at rejecting what he described as a government of continuity.

"We are here in the capital, once again, to reject this government of continuity of Mrs Keiko Fujimori, because they are the ones who ordered the killings and caused all these wounds in our regions," he said.

Protester Giovana Mendoza criticised Fujimori's inaugural address, saying it did not reflect the country's reality.

"It is a setback for our country, to go back to those years we lived through in the 90s. So many killings, so many massacres, so many disappearances, forced sterilisations, among others. That is Mrs Keiko Fujimori," she declared.

Mendoza said the symbolic washing of the national flag represented the suffering endured by victims and their families.

"We have just finished washing our flag, a flag that was dirty from so much gunpowder from the police and military who have soiled the flag. We have also washed the flag because it was stained with so much blood from our relatives who have been killed and also from the survivors," she added.

Fujimori assumed the presidency after defeating Roberto Sanchez in June by fewer than 50,000 votes. During her inaugural speech, she pledged a tough approach to crime and promised to strengthen Peru's regional partnerships and expand cooperation with countries in the Middle East .

In her first address as head of state, Fujimori said her administration would use every constitutional measure available to restore security in areas affected by criminal organisations.

"During states of emergency, the Armed Forces will temporarily assume leadership of security operations and internal control in close coordination with the National Police, until the authority of the State is fully restored and those territories are returned to the citizens," she said.

She also vowed to reclaim public spaces from criminal groups.

Fujimori pledged to recover "every neighborhood, every highway, every public space for Peruvian families."

The president announced plans to strengthen public security through a nationwide video surveillance network, artificial intelligence platforms designed to predict and map criminal activity, upgraded communications systems and faster emergency response centres.

"The fight will not be only against the common criminal. We will go after the national and international mafias that finance extortion, contract killing, drug trafficking, and illegal mining," she declared.

On foreign policy, Fujimori said Peru would deepen regional cooperation through the Pacific Alliance with Chile, Colombia and Mexico, while working to revive the Andean Community.

"Our interest is to redouble the ties of cooperation and joint regional work with the always welcome participation of Spain in promoting friendship and the common interests of Ibero-America," she told Congress.

She also pledged to strengthen Peru's role within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and pursue new investment and cooperation opportunities in the Middle East.

Fujimori said Peru's location positioned the country to serve as a bridge between those markets and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Turning to the economy, she promised to accelerate public and private investment in roads, airports, ports and essential services, including water, electricity, telephone networks and internet access.

She said the investments would help reduce the social deficit "that affects millions of Peruvians."

Describing the country as being at a "complex and painful" moment, Fujimori said she was inheriting a state weakened by corruption and thousands of delayed or poorly executed projects.

"I have not come to offer immediate miracles or empty promises. I have come to offer method, discipline, perseverance, and a clear path," she concluded.

Fujimori also pledged measurable goals and continuous accountability throughout her 1,826-day presidential term.