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Hundreds die in Peru quake
16/08/2007 10:56 - (SA)
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| Electricity lines in Lima after coastal Peru and the capital were rocked by a strong and prolonged earthquake. (Eitan Abramovich, AFP) |
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Lima - A massive earthquake hit Peru on Wednesday evening and officials said more than 330 people were killed in the rubble of collapsed homes and a
church as rescuers searched for victims early on Thursday.
Peru's health minister initially said few died in the 7.9-magnitude quake, but the toll later rose to more than 330, the nation's civil defence agency said. Hundreds were injured.
"Unfortunately we have official numbers," Luis Palomino, the head of the agency, told Reuters. On its website, the agency said 337 people died and 827 were injured.
Emergency workers said the coastal province of Ica south of
Lima was the hardest hit region.
One fire department official in the area said at least four
people were trapped when the main tower of the Senor de Luren
church in the city of Ica was toppled.
Main highway blocked
Rescuers struggled to move south toward Ica as portions of
the Pan-American Highway, an key coastal route, were impassable
and thieves assaulted stranded travellers, radio reports said.
"I was with my children when the movement started and then
the walls collapsed. My house was destroyed," Milagros Meneses,
35, told Reuters in the city of Canete south of the capital,
Lima. "The hospital gave me a tent for my kids to sleep in."
At least two people were killed in Canete.
Office workers ran onto the streets in fear as tall
buildings in Lima shook in two waves that lasted around 20
seconds each and cut power lines.
A tsunami warning was issued for Peru, Chile, Ecuador and
Colombia and a small tsunami was detected. But it posed no
major threat and the warning was later lifted.
Peruvian President Alan Garcia sent condolences to the
families of the quake's victims and said the country, which has
suffered devastating quakes in the past, narrowly escaped a
major disaster.
Disaster declared
Ambulance sirens blared in the darkened capital where store
windows shattered and cellular telephone services were cut off.
The health ministry declared a disaster and traffic snarled at
the international airport.
"People here hugging and crying in fear on the streets,"
said Cristyane Marusiak, a 31-year-old resident.
US Geological Survey reports to show that one quake struck about 145km
southeast of Lima at a depth of around 40km.
It was followed by nine aftershocks ranging in magnitude
from 6.0 to the upper 4s, said Dale Grant, a geophysicist at the
USGS's National Earthquake Information Centre in Golden,
Colorado.
The USGS says earthquakes measuring more than 7.0 magnitude
often result in fatalities. The Andes has many active fault
lines.
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