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| Peruvians prepared to spend Wednesday night outside their homes near Lima after the earthquake. Enrique Castro Mendivil/Reuters |
Peru mobilizes after major earthquake
The death toll is far lower than in similar-magnitude quakes, such as one in 1970 that killed 70,000.
By Lucien Chauvin | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the August 17, 2007 edition
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Lima, Peru - Peru's government mobilized relief and rescue efforts Thursday as the death toll from Wednesday night's massive earthquake rose steadily.
At press time, Peru's civil defense agency reported that more than 300 people were killed and close to 1,500 injured as a result of the 8.0-magnitude earthquake, which was centered in the ocean about 90 miles south of the country's capital, Lima.
The hardest-hit areas were more than 150 miles south of Lima. Many of the deaths were registered in the city of Ica, where numerous buildings collapsed.
Nearly 200 people one of the cities closest to the quake's epicenter, Pisco, were trapped under the rubble of a Roman Catholic church, which crumbled during evening mass.
Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza told the state news agency Andina that approximately 20 percent of buildings in his city were destroyed.
Crisostomo Palma, a housing contractor in the town of San Vicente de Cañete, which is also close to the epicenter, said people were confused immediately following the earthquake.
"People came running out of their houses, screaming and trying to understand what was happening. Some of the older, adobe-brick houses collapsed," he said in a telephone interview, adding that the damage there is not as severe as in other towns.
Residents in the nearby fishing port of Cerro Azul left their homes when waves began crashing over the seawall.
Tsunami concerns triggered
Tsunami alerts were issued for Peru and most Pacific Basin countries in the region overnight. The threat did not materialize, but residents in Cerro Azul remain on alert.
"People headed to the tops of nearby hills, fearing a tidal wave. There is still a lot of panic because of the aftershocks," added Mr. Palma.
Peru's National Geophysical Institute has reported close to 150 aftershocks since the initial earthquake, which hit at 6:40 p.m. local time Wednesday (7:40 p.m. EDT).
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