Rescuers Struggle in Peru as Quake Toll Reaches 510

ICA, Peru - The death toll rose to 510 last night following a magnitude 8 earthquake that devastated cities of adobe and brick in Peru's southern desert. Survivors wearing blankets against the winter cold wandered like ghosts through the ruins and doctors struggled to help more than 1,500 injured.

The mayor of Pisco, a port town 125 miles southeast of the capital, Lima, said at least 200 people were buried in the rubble of a church where they were attending a service, and the Canal N cable news station in the oasis city of Ica said another 17 died inside a church there. The quake hit at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday - Aug. 15, which is celebrated by Roman Catholics as the day the Virgin Mary rose to heaven.

A wall toppled in the prison in Chincha, allowing at least 600 prisoners to flee. Only 29 had been recaptured yesterday, officials said.

Throughout the region, dust-covered dead were pulled from buildings and laid in rows in the streets or beneath bloodstained sheets at damaged hospitals and morgues. At least 14 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater kept hundreds of the injured outside on cots in the open air because medical personnel feared more buildings would collapse.

The death toll was expected to go higher because "the destruction of the houses in this area is quite total," said UN Assistant Secretary-General Margareta Wahlstrom.

"The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets," Pisco Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN, sobbing. "We don't have lights, water, communications. Most houses have fallen. Churches, stores, hotels - everything is destroyed."

The U.S. Geological Survey raised the earthquake's magnitude from 7.9 to 8.

President Alan Garcia declared a state of emergency after flying by helicopter to Ica, a city of 120,000, where a quarter of the buildings had collapsed. Government doctors called off a national strike for higher pay and rushed to the scene.

"There has been a good international response, even without Peru asking for it," Garcia said during a stop in Pisco.

The United States announced a $100,000 donation and said there were two USAID disaster response officials in Peru and a third en route. The Navy Ship Comfort, with a medical staff of 800 and 12 operating rooms, is currently in Ecuador and was prepared to sail to Peru if asked.

Electricity, water and phone service were down in much of southern Peru. The government sent police and soldiers to the area, but traffic was paralyzed by giant cracks and fallen power lines on the Pan American Highway. Large boulders also blocked Peru's Central Highway to the Andes mountains.

Only one death was recorded in Lima, 95 miles from the epicenter, but the furious two minutes of shaking caused thousands to flee outside and sleep in parks.

How to help

RED CROSS

Those who want to contribute to relief efforts can visit their local Red Cross chapter and indicate that they want the money to go to the International Response Fund, which helps provide relief to any major disaster worldwide, or they can be more specific and indicate on their checks "Peru Earthquake." Contributions also can be made at redcross.org, or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. For Spanish, call 800-257-7575.

UNICEF UNICEF is seeking donations to provide water-purification tablets, water containers, oral hydration salts and water tanks to earthquake victims. Visit unicefusa.org or call 1-800-4UNICEF to make a donation or get more information.