Forex News: Death Toll Rises To 115 In Peruvian Quake, Hundreds Injured, Thursday, August 16, 2007 5:01:45 AM

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Death Toll Rises To 115 In Peruvian Quake, Hundreds Injured, Thursday, August 16, 2007 5:01:45 AM

The death toll in the earthquake that hit Peru at 1840 or 2340 GMT Wednesday has reached 115 with more than a thousand injured, the country`s health minister, Carlos Vallejos said early Thursday.

The 7.9 magnitude quake with epicenter 160 km from the capital Lima hit near the town of Chincha Alta, and was located 40 km below the earth`s surface, the US Geological Survey reported. At least three aftershocks also struck off the central coast of Peru, sending workers running out of shaking buildings in the capital, Lima.

The force of the quake shook buildings in the capital in two bursts of about 20 seconds each, followed by several aftershocks ranging from magnitudes of 5.4 to 5.9 that caused some power outages, witnesses said.

President Alan Garcia ordered all police personnel to the streets of Lima to keep order and said he was sending the country`s health minister and two other Cabinet members to Ica.

Speaking on radio stations Radioprogramas and CPN, Health Minister Carlos Vallejos said he was trying to reach the city of Ica, the hardest hit by the quake.

Earlier, Deputy Health Minister Jose Calderon called the situation `dramatic` in Ica, a city of 650,000 people located 165 miles southeast of the capital. The city was also without electricity as firefighters and other rescue workers dug through the rubble in the dark for survivors.

Calderon called upon Peruvians to donate blood for the injured and said a convoy of doctors and nurses were headed for Ica. News reports said dozens of people were thronging hospitals in the city seeking treatment even though the hospitals had suffered cracks and other structural damage.

Meanwhile, state doctors called off a national strike that began on Wednesday to handle the emergency arising out of the earthquake.

Peru`s America TV reported 48 people were killed and 350 injured, citing officials. It showed footage of traffic lights in the capital, Lima, swaying with the quake.

Cable news station Canal N reported that the bell tower of an 18th-century church collapsed in the city of Ica south of Lima, killing 17 people and injuring 70.

Firefighters quoted in radio reports said that many streetlights and windows were shattered in Lima but did not specify if there were any injuries. Hundreds of workers were evacuated from office buildings in Lima after the quake struck and remained outside, fearing aftershocks.

The coastal town of Pisco, about 257 kilometers south of Lima, also appeared to be badly hit and there was no electricity in the town, Gen. Luis Palomino, head of Peru`s national civil defense institute said.

Fernando Calderon, an American visiting Peru said it was chaos everywhere. Everybody started crying. Everybody started running toward any empty space. Everybody was afraid the buildings were going to collapse.

Cristyane Marusiak, a 31-year-old resident said people here hugging and crying in fear on the streets.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had issued a tsunami alert for Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia late on Wednesday after the 7.9-strong quake struck Peru. The center canceled all the alerts after about two hours, but it said the quake had caused an estimated 10-inch tsunami near the epicenter. `It wasn`t big enough to be destructive,` said Stuart Weinstein, the center`s assistant director.